Dark Sun Academy
by s-chan.the.insane
Summary: A strange new academy appears and threatens Ritsuka with his life and the safety of others. Can something be done, with the help of Lightless, to stop the chaos? OC, a bit of shonen-ai. Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes that I don't see.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"SOUBI!"

Soubi barely looked up from his painting when he heard his name called. He was kneeling on the floor, painting on some canvas. His bag full of books was thrown across his bedroom. But he continued with his painting, lightly dipping his paintbrush into his little bottle of purple paint. He was finishing up on his latest project; a butterfly, fluttering in a field.

Black shoes stomped up to the edge of his painting. This time, Soubi did look up. It was Kio, glaring down at him. Something was clenched in his fist.

"Soubi, do you know what I found inside your bag?" growled Kio, as he asked his question.

"Why were you going through my stuff?" asked Soubi.

Kio screamed and threw a tantrum, throwing his arms up into the air. "That's not the point! I found these pictures in your bag and I want to know why they were in your bag!"

He threw the crumpled up pictures down on to the painting. They were three pictures that landed right into the fresh purple paint on the canvas. They were all posed pictures of Soubi and his master. Ritsuka.

Gingerly, Soubi picked up one of the pictures and flicked paint off of it. "You ruined the pictures and the painting."

"JUST TELL ME WHY THEY WERE THERE!"

"Ritsuka wanted to take pictures with me. He wanted to create memories."

Soubi smiled to himself. He knew that that would just push Kio to the edge, but he didn't care. These were precious events with him and his master. The pictures were taken in Ritsuka's room, late at night, when his mother was either sleeping or watching TV. They were on his bed, hugging each other and making funny faces. Nothing extreme happened that night, but just the thought of him at Ritsuka's house would drive Kio insane.

Soubi couldn't help but touch Ritsuka's ears on the painting. They were so small, so cute.

"…DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Huh? Come again?"

"I said, I told you to stop taking pictures like this with Ritsuka! If anyone else saw them, they'd call you some sort of a pervert!"

Soubi put the picture in his hand on the floor next to him. He picked up the lid to the paint bottle and twisted it on.

"But you're okay with this?" he asked.

Kio screamed again and walked away from him. Soubi watched him pace back and forth. His eyes darted to the clock. It was about time Ritsuka got out of school. Time to go now.

He carefully picked up the rest of the pictures and put them aside. He looked at his painting and sighed. Tomorrow was another day to fix it. It wasn't due for another week. Holding it by its edges, Soubi stood up and walked over to his bed, laying the canvas flat out on his mattress. Kio saw what he was doing and stopped his little tantrum.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Kio, watching Soubi but his paints away.

"I'm going to get Ritsuka from school." replied Soubi, carrying the paints over to a small case.

Kio sighed. "Alright then. Please don't stay out too late. And try to come home for dinner. Instead of take-out, I want to try and have some sort of a home-cooked meal tonight."

"I'll see what I can do," said Soubi. He locked up his case and stuffed it underneath his bed.

He took a quick peek out the window. The sun was piercing through from behind the clouds, almost making the area look like a complete hazy mist. It was snowing outside. Cars were already screeching and honking in the roads, and it wasn't even rush hour; everyone was being let out early it seemed.

Soubi walked over to the coat rack and grabbed his black coat. The sleeves and collar were lined with fake, fluffy white fur. Sliding his arms into the sleeves, he walked over to the door and turned the knob to let himself out.

"Good-bye, Kio."

Kio merely waved his hand away as he turned his back to the door. He heard it shut quietly behind him. Sighing, he walked over to the window and looked outside. He folded his arms on the windowsill, placing his chin right on top of them.

There was something calming about watching snowflakes fall from the clouds to the ground. It might seem boring to watch their slow paths, but Kio couldn't take his eyes off of them. The wind picked up, and they all swirled before him in the air. The window was fogging up from his breath, so he wiped it clean with his sleeve. Kio looked down at the street to try and see if he could see anybody.

There were just a few people walking around, with their hoods up or even umbrellas. He never heard of such a thing. People using umbrellas in the snow. Who would want to totally avoid the touch of it? He spotted his target; our favorite long haired, blonde friend. No girls were hitting on him. Good. Smiling with satisfaction, he walked away from the window to find something else to do for a while.

* * *

Ritsuka was standing outside in front of the gate to his school. He was shivering in his black overcoat. His messenger bag was even shaking from him. His tail was wrapped around his left leg, trying to keep warm. He watched, with his arms folded across his chest, leaning up against the wall, as the other kids rushed into the waiting warm cars of parents coming to pick them up. He envied them. He envied them so much.

_But why would it matter, _he thought. _Mother is too busy at home to even think of me. And whenever she does, she goes into some sort of trance and starts blaming me for things…I don't think I'd like it if she came to get me today._

He lightly touched the bandage on his cheek. Ritsuka winced. It still hurt from last night.

_I shouldn't have tried to eat something so late at night, _he thought. _I knew Mother would get upset, but I was being way too careful at dinner to eat much of anything. All she did was cook healthy food and 'Ritsuka' doesn't eat too healthy._

By now, all the children from the school were gone. Now Ritsuka noticed how quiet it was, aside from the cars driving passed him. The only people who were around were the faculty and staff of the school, and they were all trying to get into their cars with all their books and assortments. He leaned up against the wall some more. He didn't want to be found. If someone saw him, they might get worried and try to take him somewhere else. He didn't want that to happen.

Something appeared in the corner of Ritsuka's eye. He turned and smiled, thinking it was Soubi; but it wasn't.

A young boy, like himself, was standing inches away from him. His silver hair blew across his face from the wind, lashing out at the snowflakes falling. His silver tail was hanging there, being blown in the wind. His ears were hidden somewhere in his hair. He was heavily dressed in black. He was wearing the same sort of an overcoat such as Ritsuka, with his black collar up and button together. Because of this, his mouth was hidden away. He was buttoned up tight, with his hands tucked into the coat's pockets. He was wearing black dress pants and shoes.

Ritsuka started back. He didn't like how this person felt.

"Who are you?" asked Ritsuka. He put his arms up higher. He didn't like violence, but he was prepared to throw a punch to protect himself until he got a chance to run.

The boy just continued to stare at him with his silver eyes. Then, in only nothing but a second, the wind suddenly kicked up again. Ritsuka held his arms in front of his face and closed his eyes, so he wouldn't be hit with the powerful force of snow. When the wind calmed down, the boy was gone.

He blinked. He even rubbed his eyes.

"What just happened?" he asked himself.

"Ritsuka."

He turned around, and this time, it really was him. Soubi. His hero. Ritsuka wrapped his arms tightly around him and pressed his face against his body.

* * *

There ya go, there's chapter one! The beginning of this chapter felt a little rusty to me, and I couldn't seem to fix it without destroying what I liked about it. (I haven't written anything in a good month or so). I'm hoping this story will greet some people with a new sort of Loveless fanfic…strangely enough, I'm coming upon nothing but love stories. O.o There MUST be more!

Thus, an adventure story is born! The next chapter will be up within the week hopefully.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"There was a boy?"

Ritsuka sipped slowly at his hot tea. He and Soubi sat across from each other at a brown, circular table, inside of one of the good cafés in the area. Their coats were hanging up on the coat rack next to their table, revealing their clothes. Soubi was wearing a black turtle neck collar, with baggy paint covered blue jeans. He never bothered to switch into good jeans before he left. Ritsuka was wearing a purple shirt with a silver star near the collar. Around his neck was a necklace with a metallic cat attached to the chain; Soubi had bought it for him earlier on that week. His clothes matched the black jeans he was wearing. His school bag was placed underneath the table.

When the hot liquid went down his throat, Ritsuka nodded. Soubi's cup was resting on its little flowery dish. With his elbow on the table, he placed his chin in the palm of his hand. He was looking right at Ritsuka. His stare made the boy nervous and he quickly put his cup down and looked at his lap.

A waitress came to the table with a notepad and a pen. With a smile on her face, she flipped to the next page of her notepad and clicked her pen.

"Now that your drinks are here, what would you like to eat?" she asked them.

Soubi picked up the small menu with all the drinks and food on it. After just a moment, he closed the pamphlet and put it back down.

"I would like a small slice of the Dark Chocolate Fudge cake." said Soubi, smiling at the young girl.

The waitress wrote it down on the page and nodded her head. She looked at Ritsuka for his decision. Ritsuka was startled by this and shook his head.

"Alright then, you two," said the waitress, clicking her pen again. "You're cake will be out shortly. When you're done, ask for the bill and pay at the front!" At that, she skipped away to the next table.

Soubi looked at Ritsuka with concern. "You're not eating?"

"No, I'm not." Ritsuka simply said. He took another sip of his tea with a shaky hand. "I can't get that boy out of my head. He was so freaky just standing there. It's all making me feel uneasy." He put his cup down with a sudden motion and his eyes widened. "Soubi, what if he was part of a pairing?"

"Then why would he single you out like that by himself?" asked Soubi. "A fighter does not act upon his own will, so most likely it wasn't a fighter. And a sacrifice wouldn't just appear out of no where and not confront you without giving you terms or announcing a battle for later. It's all very odd. Possibly you were just seeing things, Ritsuka?"

Ritsuka looked down at the table and stared at the black liquid sitting in his cup. He wished he could see his reflection so he could see how he looked. He must look like a complete frazzled mess.

"No. He was there."

There was nothing but silence. Ritsuka was expecting Soubi to say something in return to that, but heard nothing from him. He looked up from his cup and saw Soubi staring at him again. His ears folded flat on his head. Soubi pushed his glasses up to his nose and smiled.

"You worry too much, Ritsuka." he said.

"What?!" yelled Ritsuka. His ears stood up again. "I do not!"

"And you have quite the temper!"

"Why, you--!"

Ritsuka stopped in mid sentence when he saw something walk through the door that made his hair stand on end. He sat up straight in his seat and started shaking again, not taking his eyes off his fear. Soubi saw the reaction and turned around in his seat to search for whatever Ritsuka was looking for.

A large crowd of people had come through the door; all adults. But then, someone in the crowd moved. And there he was. The boy Ritsuka was afraid of, staring right at Soubi with a cold stare that couldn't be broken. Soubi blinked, and the boy was gone.

He didn't understand how that could have happen. How could he have lost him? He felt his chair shaking and looked down. He had one of his hands gripping the chair tightly at the back, with his knuckles totally white. He was the one shaking the chair. His whole body was shaking. He smirked. It took a lot to get him scared like that.

Ritsuka stood up. "Soubi, I want to go."

Soubi looked at him and nodded. Ritsuka grabbed his coat and quickly put it on and picked his school bag off of the ground and threw it over his body. Soubi put his coat on and grabbed Ritsuka's arm. The crowd was right in front of the counter. They began to walk and pushed through the crowd to get to the cashier behind the counter. Ritsuka helped push people away, but didn't touch anybody who looked like the boy. When they got to the counter and Soubi stated his request, the cashier looked strangely at them.

"Wait, you guys didn't even get that cake you ordered!" he said. "You want to leave like that without the cake? We can put it in a box so you can take it with you--"

"No, we want to leave right now, without the cake." Soubi said, interrupting the man. "Give us our bill and let us go."

The cashier was startled, but nodded, as he started to press buttons on his keyboard, directing his attention to the computer screen. Ritsuka looked around in the crowd. He saw nothing of the boy, but that didn't stop him from sensing him. He knew he was there. Ritsuka moved closer to Soubi's body, and Soubi put his hand on his shoulder. When the bill was printed out, Soubi quickly drew out his credit card from inside his pants pocket and handed it to him.

Ritsuka's quick breathes turned into panting. He kept on looking over his shoulder, for he felt the boy's presence so strongly now. He thought he would come out from the floor and grab him, taking him to some sort of a dark world where he would be tortured for eternity. He hugged Soubi and pressed his face into Soubi's side. He didn't want to look at the world anymore.

When the receipt was printed and his credit card was back in hand, Soubi had Ritsuka out of there in no time. As soon as Ritsuka set foot out of the café, he ran away from Soubi and from the place. Soubi was stunned and called after him, but Ritsuka didn't stop. He chased after him down the street.

He didn't even know where he was going. Ritsuka was already lost. He didn't know the area very well. Yayoi was the one who suggest the café one time and gave him the directions to get to there from the school. But he had no idea of how to get home. Or to anywhere. Anywhere he felt safe. The compacted city street turned slowly into a highway surrounded by grass as the sun began to set over the snowy world. When each side of the road began to look steep, he leaped off of it and onto the ground. He rolled on his body down the hill, through the dirt and the snow, until his body came to a complete stop at the end of the hill. He was laying on his back, panting even harder now, with his eyes closed and the flakes of snow landing on his eye lashes.

"Ritsuka!"

He heard Soubi call out to him, but didn't respond to him again. He didn't want to. He still felt queasy from all that had happened with the boy today. He wanted to be away from people for the most part. Ritsuka heard footsteps come up to him and prayed that they were Soubi's.

"Ritsuka, we have to leave. Please. If you don't get into a building soon, you'll catch cold. Let's go to my house. It's around here. And then we'll leave when you're curfew's almost up. I'll call a taxi to take you home so you don't have to walk all the way. Is that ok?"

Ritsuka pondered about all of it lying in the snow. Staying at Soubi's house didn't seem too bad. And he had been there before, so he was familiar with the place.

"Ok. I'll go home with you."

* * *

I'm sorry if these chapters are too long. I tend to write long things. Writing short chapters and stories are very hard for me to do.

So, who's this random guy who keeps on popping up everywhere? Kinda creepy, don't you think? Just keep on reading for more!


	3. Chapter 3

**Just a note to everyone: Any whole sentenced spoken out loud in italics will be a spell.**

**Ex. "_Ritsuka, your clothes will be torn off of your body by the winds of a hurricane_." O.o My oh my oh my…I wonder who could have said that?**

**Chapter 3**

Up and up the stairs they went, as Soubi and Ritsuka walked up to the only place poor little Ritsuka felt completely safe at for the moment. That would be Soubi's apartment. The snow that they stepped on crunched under their feet, leaving prints of evidence that they were once there. The sun was nearly gone beyond the horizon by now, and the coming darkness chilled the air even more. When they got up to the top, Soubi took out his ring of keys from his pocket and put one of them into the keyhole. Ritsuka was shivering in the cold, watching as his breath collected in the air and turned into a cloud.

The door clicked and Soubi turned the knob. Ritsuka rushed inside and turned the light on, revealing the small room he had stepped into. It was the kitchen. The next room over would be Soubi's bedroom. Soubi locked the door and turned around to find Ritsuka still shivering.

"Are you still cold?" he asked.

"Yes I am," said Ritsuka. He grabbed his hands and began rubbing them. "Isn't the heat on in here?"

"I haven't paid the bill for it this month."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"I'm low on money."

Ritsuka walked over to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "You should have told me that before we went to the café. I wouldn't have let you waste that kind of money if I knew money was hard to come by for you right now."

"But that's where you wanted to go," said Soubi, taking his coat off and hanging it on the hooks next to the door. "I couldn't say no, Ritsuka. You are my master."

"Well, as your master, I order you to save your money so this place can get warm."

Soubi chuckled. He walked over to Ritsuka and gave him a peck on the cheek. Ritsuka growled, but couldn't stop his cheeks from turning a light pink color. His master could be funny, but he took this seriously. As long as he was ordered, he would do whatever Ritsuka told him to do. Or would he do anything for Ritsuka, order or not?

He walked over to the fridge and opened the door. A blast of cold air came out at him. Fumbling around with all the frozen goods on the shelves, he took out something wrapped up in plastic and placed it on his counter.

"Do you want chicken, Ritsuka?" he asked. But what would it matter; he was already walking over to the drawer of utensils to take out the knife to cut the chicken up. "I was supposed to eat dinner with Kio, but you're more important than him."

"Anything hot will be fine with me," said Ritsuka. He put his messenger bag underneath his chair and placed his hands on his legs. Looking over to the door, a thought came to mind. "Soubi, how strong are those locks?"

Soubi, who couldn't look at him for he was cutting the fat off of the chicken, smiled to himself. He raised the knife high into the air and chopped a good amount of fat off and pushed it to the side.

"_He and anyone close to him are not allowed inside this place_."

The pulse of those words went through Ritsuka's body, but even the spell wasn't enough to make him feel better. He started to feel uneasy again. And he knew half of his shaking was not from the cold, but from the fear of the boy. Sure, he was popping up out of nowhere, that's scary enough…but just the thought of him made him want to scream. There was something about this boy that made him fear the safety of his life.

The knock at the door made Ritsuka jump right out of his skin. He sprang to his feet. He was shaking so hard now, that his black hair was moving. Soubi dropped the knife on the counter and wiped his hands with a nearby towel. He threw the towel and made it skillfully land on the faucet of the sink. As he walked over to the door, he rubbed Ritsuka's shoulder to try and get him to calm down. The touch of Soubi's hand relaxed him, but he couldn't help but feel stressed.

The fighter slowly opened the door to reveal two people standing just outside of it. One was the boy that they had both seen before. Just seeing a small glimpse of him made Ritsuka want to scream. But knowing that the spell was up made him feel better; whoever he was couldn't come in. He slowly walked up to Soubi's side and clung to his arm.

The other one was a girl with black hair that went down to her chin, her thin strips of bangs covering parts of her face. Her cat ears perked up as soon as she saw Ritsuka and her black tail began to wag. Ritsuka looked very confused and still held on to Soubi. She looked like some sort of a gothic slut. She was wearing a very short black dress that went outward near the end it, almost like a circle, and the very short sleeves were poofy; both the sleeves and the end of the dress were laced with white thread. Her outfit resembled something of a maid's outfit. A small patch of white was on her chest with black stitching of thread going across, criss-crossing over each other. She wore a black leather collar with a red cross attached to it by a metal loop. She wore black dress shoes with white and black striped leggings that reached to her knees. Her red eyes shone in the dark.

"Hello there, Soubi!" she said. "Would you mind taking down this spell of yours? We'd both like to get inside. It's cold out here!"

Soubi smiled. "If you can tell that there's a spell up, why don't you take it down yourselves?"

"I wouldn't want to order my friend here to be forceful," said the girl, clapping her hands together. "It's not like we're on the bad guy's side here, so we're not going to break into your place!"

Ritsuka let go of Soubi's arm. "Then who are you guys if you're not bad?"

"I'm Rai." said the boy.

"And I'm Katsu." said the girl.

Looking at each other, they said in unison: "We are Lightless."

Soubi smiled and leaned against the doorframe. "So you're a team? And what business do you have by scaring little Ritsuka here and coming to my residence?"

"That's information that we can not give to you," said Rai. He unbuttoned his collar, showing his mouth and chin. "And I didn't mean to scare him. If you would like to know what's going on, let us inside so we can contact Ritsu-sensei."

"Sensei?"

"That's right!" shouted Katsu. "Sensei sent us!"

Ritsuka looked from Katsu to Soubi. Soubi's stare went from calm to angry. And here they were, Katsu and Rai, smiling at each other from the look on his face. Reluctantly, Soubi obliged.

"_I welcome you to enter my home_."

Soubi turned around and walked away, giving them room to come inside. Rai entered and tossed his overcoat onto the floor, showing off his white cuffed black suit. Ritsuka picked up his coat and hung it on the hook, shaking his head at Rai's rudeness. He felt someone poke his head and turned to look at Katsu. She giggled and winked at him before following her fighter to Soubi's bedroom. Ritsuka stood there, shocked and confused.

_What just happened?_, he thought.

Shrugging it off, he walked into Soubi's room, where he found Katsu and Rai sitting on his bed. Soubi was sitting on his computer chair, trying to light a cigarette. Ritsuka closed the door as he entered and looked sternly at Lightless.

"Now tell us!" he demanded. "What's going on?"

"Quite the commanding little fellow." said Katsu, smiling. She backed up on the bed until her back touched the wall. "You're a cute, little master right there."

"Don't tease Ritsuka." said Soubi, as he finally got his cigarette lit up. He took in a bit and let out a puff of smoke.

"Oh, I'm so _sorry!_" said Katsu, sarcastically. She nodded to Rai, who took out a cell phone from his pants pocket and dialed a number. She turned to Ritsuka again and giggled. "I'm sorry, I have to have some fun with you! I mean, come on! You're the infamous Loveless!" She clasped her hands together and sighed. "You look just like Seimei."

"SHUT UP!" screamed Ritsuka. He took a stepped forward and pounded his foot into the floorboard. "I'm not afraid of you, so I can do whatever I want! I can tell Soubi to make you leave!"

"Alright, alright, I'll try and be a good little girl, Loveless."

"And call me Ritsuka!"

"Alright, _Ritsuka. _Holy crap…"

"I've got him on the phone," said Rai. He held the phone in the air, in the direction of Soubi. "He would like to speak to you."

Soubi got out of his chair and took the phone from the child's hand. He put it up to his head and answered to the man at the end of the phone. Putting the cigarette up to his lips, he took in more smoke as he listened to the other person. Then suddenly, his whole body stiffened and the cigarette fell from his mouth to the floor.

* * *

This chapter actually took me the longest to write so far. I wanted to try and depict Katsu and Rai as best as I could, especially their personalities. And just in case you couldn't figure it out, Rai's the Fighter of Lightless and Katsu is the Sacrifice of Lightless.

Watch out for the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Loveless or a certain video game that will be referenced in this story. And that would be Kingdom Hearts. A little random, but yes... I don't usually do this disclaimer stuff for fanfics, but I don't want to get in trouble for this video game. Don't want some random Japanese secret agents coming to my house arresting me for something that I typed up!**

**Chapter 4**

_Soubi-kun. Protect Loveless with your life. A new rival academy has appeared, named Dark Sun Academy. They will try to capture him to complete their mission._

Ritsu's conversation with him played non-stop in Soubi's head as he was lying down on his bed, under the covers. His head was on his folded arms, looking up at the dark ceiling, watching the random lights on the TV flash above him. Rai was there, sitting on the floor in front of the TV, playing an intense rpg game.

Soubi rolled over on to his side and watched what was on the screen. Rai was playing as some sort of a boy with brown spiky hair in a weird uniform, wielding a large, silver key. Following him was a black dog standing up on its hind legs, wearing a strange looking large hat and a shield, and an equally odd duck, in all blue, carrying around a magic wand. Soubi wasn't familiar with this game, so he assumed Rai brought it for himself to play.

_What kind of a mission?_

_At first we weren't sure, but after sending in one of our own, we discovered that whoever the leader is, is creating a project named Peaceful. It's similar to the Zero project Nagisa-sensei created, only in this case the memories will be taken away, not the ability to feel pain. Without torturous and painful memories, one has peace of mind, thus giving all the test subjects the true name Peaceful. But without one's memories, one does not have a personality or a sense of self. You can say that they are nothing but an empty shell. As you can see, the most dangerous part of the project is the result of taking away someone's memories. Anyone can tell them lies and they'd have to believe them, because they haven't any memories to prove to them that it is a lie. They can be told to kill a person, not knowing that they are a loved one, because they would never know. They are the most obedient. The Zeroes may not feel any pain, but the Peaceful can go out and do whatever they want without feeling any regret._

Little shadow monsters popped up onto the screen and Rai's character was slashing them away with his key. The dog and the duck were attacking them too with their weapons, but it wasn't enough. The shadows just kept on appearing.

_Sounds pretty dangerous. Why do they need Ritsuka?_

_They believe that since he is Seimei's younger brother that Ritsuka has his own merciless talent. He has talent, but not like that. But they can change that. Taking him in and erasing all of his memories would turn him into their ultimate result of a Sacrifice. They could turn him into a monster. By teaming him up with a different Fighter unit, they will use him to take over Seven Voices Academy and turn all of our students into Peaceful. They might even use him to kill. And there is a chance that they will take in Nagisa's two Zeroes, Natsuo and Youji. After that, anything could happen to this world. Peaceful might become invincible._

_And then what happens to Ritsuka?_

_They will have no use for Ritsuka anymore. As far as we know, they only want him to take us down. After that, it would be pointless to keep him. No amount of psychology and brain surgery can bring his memories back. And by changing his name entirely, the true Loveless Fighter unit will have no partner. Most likely, Ritsuka will--_

"Die!"

Soubi was startled out of the conversation in his mind and was brought back to reality. Rai was hammering his thumbs into the control, making his character swing his key wildly around in the air. One of the shadow creatures jumped out at him from the ground, but he slashed it in half with one swipe.

"Die!" shouted Rai. This was the first time in a while that Rai had spoken. He seemed to be the quiet type. "Die, you stupid Heartless!"

"Rai, why don't you stop playing that game and go to sleep?" asked Soubi.

"I can't." said Rai. "I'm in the middle of this. Shit, I let one hit me…"

"You can just leave them be and save."

"I can't, and I won't. I never let an enemy leave my sight."

Soubi sighed and turned on his back again. Pulling the covers over his face, he blocked out the light coming from the game and attempted to do the same with the noise and Rai's random shouts of curses. He closed his eyes and went back to the memory of Ritsu's conversation with him, letting it lull him to sleep.

_I'm appointing Lightless to follow you and Loveless until more information is gathered. Loveless must always be under surveillance, of course, but we don't want to take the chance of them going after you first and taking Loveless later. At night, units will be paired up with the other team's same unit, to protect one another. Having four people in one room would be quite cramped. In other words, Rai will be staying with you for bed, Soubi, and Katsu will be staying with Loveless._

_Understood._

_Soubi-kun, when can I see you again?_

At that point, Soubi had hung up the phone.

* * *

The typing. The annoying sound of it. It was usually tolerable, since everyone does it, but non-stop, with no breaks, for ten minutes, was enough. Ritsuka was lying in bed, on his stomach, holding his pillow over his head in anger. His eyes were shut tight, trying to block everything out. He heard her giggle and he was ready to scream. What could Katsu possibly be doing at this time of night to make her laugh like that?

He kicked the star abundant blanket off him and sat up in bed. He wasn't embarrassed to show her his blue pajamas covered with crescent moons, like he was earlier when he kicked her into his bathroom so he could get dressed into them. He thought they were very childish. But now he was mad and he didn't care. Katsu had her back to him, staring at the screen. And still typing! Ritsuka didn't know whether to throw his pillow at her or just lunge at her himself.

Calmly though, he took in a deep breath, and let it out.

"Katsu?" he asked her, holding his hands.

"Yes?" Katsu replied, still typing away on his keyboard.

"What are you doing?" asked Ritsuka.

"Just answering some email." said Katsu. She stopped typing for the first time in ten minutes, and cracked her knuckles. Then she went back to typing again. "Ritsu-sensei has been putting us through more training than the rest of the students on our level because we're going to be protecting you. He says we need to be ready at all times. So since the meanie doesn't give me any free time at all, now's my chance to answer some mail from friends that I've put off for a week or two."

Ritsuka became curious now. He crossed his legs into an Indian position and perked up his ears. "I had the impression that you weren't supposed to speak much about Seven Voices Academy with friends."

"Oh, not really. But these are friends from the school." Katsu smiled to herself. "You're funny. You think that we all have time to make friends outside the school? Not really. Hell, I can't even remember anybody's name that I knew outside of that place. That's why when some of us get an outside mission, we jump for joy, because then we can actually have some social contact with people."

Ritsuka nodded. He guessed that it all made some sense. It brought back the memory of Breathless, Midori and Ai. After all the fighting was done and before they left, they had hung out with him for a bit. They even bought him a drink. Maybe they were just being nice, or maybe it was because they wanted to make a strong bond with the outside world. Ritsuka couldn't tell.

"Hey Katsu?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know of a team called Breathless?"

"Oh, you mean Midori and Ai?" she asked, looking over he shoulder at him. "Yeah, I know them. I'm friends with Ai. In fact, I'm speaking with her right now." She giggled at him, making him feel nervous. "I haven't sent the message yet. Would you like me to say hi for you?"

Ritsuka nodded. Katsu looked back at the screen and typed in what Ritsuka hopefully said. Though he really doubted it. He got off his bed and walked over to her and stoof behind the chair. Looking at the screen, he scanned through the message. It was just her talking about how fun it was out here and wishing she could be here. Then he found the bit he told her to write. Ritsuka smiled. At least she listened a little bit. But then he caught the next sentence after it. His tail stiffened and his left eye began to twitch.

"You better erase that bit about my pajamas." he said.

"Hahaha, no way!" laughed Katsu, clapping her hands. "I just have to, I'm sorry!" She clicked send before Ritsuka could even touch the mouse. "Too late! Hahaha!"

"You're a real jerk, I hope you know that." Ritsuka said, with his veins boiling.

Katsu got out of the chair and stretched downwards, trying to reach her toes. In the process, her tail stuck up in the air and twitched. Something snapped and she sighed in relief. Ritsuka paid her no mind as she kept on making odd noises as she stretched and cracked herself. He bent over and turned his computer off.

"Ahh, that's the ticket!" said Katsu. She sat down on the floor and fell backwards, laughing.

Ritsuka was ready to forget about hating violence and just beat the guts out of her. "Will you shut up already? My Mom might hear you…"

"Oh yeah, of course, ok. I just have to keep all my muscles flexible just in case Dark Sun comes along and takes you into a helicopter or something. I just might have to jump onto some buildings to save your life!"

Katsu began to laugh her head off, rocking back and forth in her spot. Ritsuka stayed silent and motionless. He had remembered Soubi's reaction to the phone call. He had never seen him like that. It really upset him and scared him a whole lot. It frightened him even more when Soubi told him what was going to happen to him and what this Peaceful project was. It all made him want to crawl into a corner and stay there for the rest of his life. Sure, his memories were going to be erased. Like he had any left to begin with. But he didn't want to forget about the important people, like Yuiko, Yayoi, and even Soubi.

What if he was captured? What if he was ordered by this leader to do something bad? To his friends? To Soubi even?

After a moment, Katsu slowly stopped and examined the boy. He was looking down, not saying a word. Katsu's ears drooped and looked away.

"I'm real sorry." she said. "I didn't mean for it to sound like that. They won't take you. I promise, ok?"

Ritsuka nodded his head, still quiet. Katsu sighed, got to her feet and hugged him. He gasped at her touch and was tempted to set himself free of her. But he couldn't. His body wouldn't let him. He didn't have the same feeling he usually had when Soubi hugged him. Katsu's hug felt different. It warmed his insides and made him feel better about everything. It was a hug full of sorrow and possibly even friendship.

"I forgive you." said Ritsuka. Katsu let go of him and put on a smile that reminded him on Yuiko. He opened his mouth to laugh, but instead let out a yawn.

"You go to bed, Ritsuka." said Katsu. "I'll wake you up in the morning for school."

Ritsuka walked over to his bed, almost like a zombie, and picked up his covers. He jumped on to his bed and settled in, fixing his covers up to the way he liked them. Katsu smiled at him. Ritsuka made a noise like a cat hissing and glared at her. In his little mind, he set up a barrier around him so that no one could come near him, and if they did, they'd explode.

Katsu laughed. "I'm not going to join you, silly! I'm going to sleep on the floor!" At that, she dropped herself on to the floor.

Ritsuka was ready for her to say something else, but she didn't. Looking over the side of his bed, he saw her, sprawled out on the floor like a drunk with her mouth wide open, asleep. She fell asleep so quickly, it was unbelievable.

And most of all, he never knew his floor was that comfortable.

* * *

So yeah, sorry about the Kingdom Hearts thing. I really wanted to add something random. XD I'm going to try and have a new chapter every day now, or at least until break's over...


	5. Chapter 5

I'm only putting this chapter up today because I won't be here on Friday...dentist time again...and I didn't want to be late, so I'm posting this today. Chapter 6 will still be up tomorrow, on Thursday, though, so nothing else drastically changes.

Oh, and I don't own anything from Shakespeare. XD You'll find out...

**Chapter 5**

Splashing through the puddles and the slush turned brown by all the cars' exhaust fumes, Ritsuka walked his way on the sidewalk to school, tagged along by Katsu. She was following just a few steps behind him, without any coat on, trying to "blend in with the crowd" as she put it. But by looking around, Ritsuka saw that it was just him, Katsu, and just a few other kids. There was no _crowd _to blend in with, and not wearing a coat in her dress made her stand out a lot. All the kids around them were glancing over at her whenever they had the chance. Ritsuka was sure that she made peoples' heads turn twice when she was waiting for him outside the front door that morning. Somehow, she had gotten out of his bedroom without his Mom knowing sometime that morning and stood there in the cold, waiting to walk him to school. Maybe she went out through the window. It's how she came in when they came back to the house last night.

Ritsuka turned around to take a look at her. She had her pink cell phone and she was looking at it, with her brand new small, red purse on her shoulder. Ritsuka didn't know where she had gotten the time to go out and buy her purse. He suspected she went out for a bit while he was sleeping this morning and bought it, then came back into the house or stayed outside. But then where did she get the money from to buy the purse?

Katsu closed the phone, giggling as the little chain with the white bunny head hit the phone. She caught him looking at her and waved at him. Ritsuka grunted and turned his head to look in front of him.

_She's worse than Yuiko _, he thought, then shook his head. _No, Yuiko I can tolerate because she's getting a bit better. But Katsu is just…gah!_

He heard her cell phone make a noise and heard her flip it open. She giggled again. Ritsuka put his hands in his pockets, trying not to yell so loud.

"Why do you keep on giggling?" he asked. His tail was stiffening up again.

"I'm texting Rai." said Katsu, as she was pressing her phone's buttons. "He's telling me how much fun he and Soubi had last night."

Ritsuka stopped in his tracks. Rai…was having fun…with Soubi?

Once Katsu passed him, he started walking again, only tried to stay behind her. He tried to read the little screen on the phone to see what was going on, but everything was blurry to him because they were walking.

"What do you mean by that?" Ritsuka asked.

Katsu looked at him and smiled. "Aww, is little Ritsuka getting jealous?"

Ritsuka blushed and his body tensed up. He looked away from her, still walking. "No, I'm not. I'm just curious."

"Well, just to let you know, Rai was just teaching Soubi how to play this video game he bought with me before we came to Soubi's place. He fell asleep at first while Rai was playing it, but woke up again and wanted to play. So Soubi stayed up for an hour or so playing it. Rai said that he was like a zombie!"

Ritsuka thought about what she said. He couldn't picture Soubi playing video games. Maybe Soubi liked to play them. He didn't know. Could Soubi be holding his true personality back from him?

Katsu closed her phone. "Alright. Rai says that he's leaving Soubi's place right now."

"What are you guys going to be doing while I'm in school?" asked Ritsuka. The question had just come to his mind. "Will you be with Soubi?"

"Nah, Soubi's in college. There aren't any kids there. It would be too weird if a couple of thirteen year olds hung around a college. We'll be sticking around the area, but we doubt that they'll attack you while you're inside the school when it's in session."

Ritsuka nodded. His tail was wagging right to left. Now he was really looking forward to go to school. It was the only time he was away from the Lightless pair. Katsu annoyed him so much and he still wasn't too used to Rai. He was just plain creepy. He saw the walls to the building coming up on his side and his heart raced with delight. He broke off into a run, startling Katsu. She put her phone quickly into her purse and chased after him.

Ritsuka dodged all the kids that were in his way and ran faster. He saw the open gate coming up, the entrance to his solitude. He was just about to go through the gates when someone grabbed on to his coat's sleeve. They pulled him back and let Katsu grabbed him by the other arm. Ritsuka was struggling, but stopped when he saw that it was Rai.

"You shouldn't run away from Katsu," said Rai. "She's supposed to be watching you."

"Nice catch there, Rai!" shouted Katsu, throwing a smile out to her Fighter.

"How did you get here so quickly?" said Ritsuka. He pulled his arm free. "She said you were just leaving Soubi's place right now!"

"I was." said Rai, nodding his head. "But Katsu ordered me to come here fast. So I did."

Ritsuka growled. Rai gave him a cold stare and shook his head.

"You should just deal with this. The situation calls for us to be with you at all times. So just listen to us. We only want to help. And please don't run away from Katsu."

Katsu nodded with her goofy smile on her face. Ritsuka looked from the Sacrifice to the Fighter and said nothing. There was nothing he could say. Rai had a point. And as far as he knew, them being around him was only temporary, so it was alright with him.

Ritsuka adjusted the strap to his bag and nodded. "Ok. So, let's go into the school now."

* * *

"Alright class, we're going to review the times table today!"

The class groaned. Some ever slammed their hands on the desk. Hitomi Shinonome, their teacher, became flustered in front of the class. With her chalk in her hand, she waited for the class to become silent before she began her lesson. Ritsuka sat in the back of the class, reading a Shakespeare novel called _Romeo and Juliet_. Every now and then, he adjusted his seating in his chair, fixed his red sweater, or turned the page. He knew the drill for this. They'd go on moaning and groaning for a few minutes with Shinonome-sensei either just standing up there being quiet like she was now, or walk around the classroom clapping her hands.

Yuiko said next to him, looking all around the classroom in a daze, but every now and then, her eyes fell upon Ritsuka. She was wearing a pink denim jacket with a white undershirt and blue shorts. At one point, she finally got up the courage to talk to Ritsuka.

"Ritsuka…w-what are you reading?" she asked him nervous, twiddling her thumbs.

Ritsuka looked at her with his book still open. "It's an old English novel called _Romeo and Juliet_. It's about these two lovers who are basically forbidden to see each other. That's kinda all I know right now. I rented it from the library a few days ago. Would you like to borrow it when I'm done?"

"Y-yes! Yuiko would like to!" replied Yuiko. She bent her ears and continued on in a whisper. "Err, _I _would like to."

"Much better."

Shinonome-sensei was still waiting for the class to stop. Yuiko took this chance and leaned over her desk to Ritsuka, cupping her mouth so only he could hear her.

"Who were those two weird looking kids that walked you here, Ritsuka? What class are they in?"

Ritsuka stopped reading all together and tried to think up a story. What could he say? Yuiko would buy anything, but he didn't want to lie to her. No, he didn't like lying at all. But what could he say to her? He pictured Katsu and Rai in his head and many words came to mind. He smiled when he decided on one and turned to Yuiko.

"Friends." he said. "They're friends of mine."

"Does Soubi know about them?"

"They kinda know Soubi."

"Can I meet them?"

"Umm…I don't know. At least not yet."

Yuiko clapped her hands in joy. Ritsuka rolled his eyes and shook his head. Anything could get this girl excited. Finally, he heard the class start to settle down and he closed his novel.

Shinonome-sensei nodded and walked up to the chalkboard. Quickly, with the chalk, she wrote down a problem. It read **2 x 10**.

"Class, who can give me the answer?" she asked to all of them.

Only one hand was raised. Shinonome-sensei nodded and pointed at him.

"Twenty?" said Ritsuka.

Shinonome-sensei smiled. "That's right!"

She turned her back to them again and wrote down another problem. **10 x 10**. Turning around, she almost sighed to see that Ritsuka's hand was the only one up again. Yuiko was lowering herself in her seat, as if trying to hide herself from the guilt of not knowing the answer. Ritsuka, on the other hand, was almost pushing himself out of his seat.

"One hundred?"

"Correct again, Ritsuka."

Ritsuka sat down again, but felt something all around them. It was the class; or, at least, everyone except the teacher and Yuiko. They were all glaring at him. But it didn't faze him. He couldn't help but be smart. This "Ritsuka" was the smart one, unlike the other one, who only paid attention to his friends the most and was either failing or was on average for school.

Something flew passed the window. Ritsuka saw it and reacted to it by looking straight out the window passed Yuiko. Yuiko wasn't even paying much attention to anything at the moment. Ritsuka heard Shinonome-sensei say something to the class, but he couldn't understand her. He looked around and saw that no one else seemed to see it. A ball of black energy zoomed by the window. Or at least, that's what he thought he saw.

Ritsuka looked over across the room and read the time. It was thirty minutes until the end of the school day. When he went outside, he'd have to ask Katsu and Rai what that was.

* * *

I love how smart Ritsuka is. All the kids hate him so much...

And I seem to be on a roll recently with this story. Maybe because I have this whole week off...


	6. Chapter 6

**Please review these chapters for me. Knowing what people think about my stories is like giving me chocolate chip cookies. I love them and they get me hyper!**

**Chapter 6**

"Ritsuka, let's go to the mall today! We can go shopping and eat interesting food! Oh no, better yet, let's go to my place! My parents aren't home again and they left all of this soda there!"

"Yuiko, you shouldn't touch that stuff…"

"Why not, Ritsuka?"

It was the end of the day and Yuiko and Ritsuka were walking out of the school's doors, talking to each other about what they were going to do after school. Yayoi was trailing behind them, listening in to their conversation. He was already mad at Ritsuka for stealing Yuiko away from him; little did he know, it was the other way around.

Ritsuka was barely listening to Yuiko. He actually wanted to speak to Yayoi about a video game, but Yuiko wouldn't let him leave her. So he let her babble on about her house and many other things. He would get a chance to talk to Yayoi later on.

As far as Ritsuka knew, at the moment, she was talking about the kitten she might be getting later on that week, until he heard her scream in his ear and wrapped his whole body in her arms. Ritsuka heard Yayoi gasp right behind him and then heard a "thump!" Sounded like Yayoi fainted again.

"What's the matter, why are you hugging me so tight?!" Ritsuka was trying to wiggle out of the death trap.

"It's Soubi!" yelled Yuiko. "He's right outside the gate, across the street! I think I see blood!" She started to cry and swung little Ritsuka left to right. "Ritsuka, I think Soubi is hurt--!"

"He is not!" retorted Ritsuka, but then wondered if he had gone against his word and fought someone by himself again.

Yuiko lost her grip on him and he took this chance to be free of her. He left her standing there, sobbing away a river, with the unconscious Yayoi on the ground right behind her. He pushed people out of his way and ran passed the gate, into the road without even looking for a coming car, and right up to Soubi. There were two people on the ground in front of them.

He was indeed covered in blood, kneeling on the sidewalk, his beautiful blue coat with the ruffled feathers around the collar speckled with it. He stood behind Soubi, panting for breath, trying to regain it from his quick run and because Yuiko had been choking him with her hug. Soubi heard him and turned. That's when Ritsuka saw the front of him. The whole front of his coat was drenched in blood, the same red liqui dripping from his hands. On the ground were Katsu and Rai, with cuts all over their bodies. Great gashes were in their legs, pouring blood out on to the cement sidewalk. The lower half of their shirts were torn off. Something was written on their stomachs. A large, bloody P.

Ritsuka couldn't believe what he saw. "Soubi, did you--?"

"I did nothing to them." He replied calmly. "I just got here and there they were. I'm surprised that no one else saw them. They might have put some sort of a spell on them to conceal them from people who aren't part of a team…"

"Are they…" Ritsuka began, but was afraid to continue. "…dead?"

"No, I think they're fine. They've put themselves into a hypnotic sleep so they can heal themselves."

"Soubi, I…I think I saw them fighting someone before. Outside my classroom window. I saw a black ball of something go passed it. I thought I was seeing things, but maybe it was them…"

Soubi nodded. "What should we do?"

"Let's take them away from here," said Ritsuka. "There's a pond not too far away from here. Not too many people go there because it's too rocky. If we take them there, we can clean them off. And your jacket. Can you carry them?"

"Yes, I can." said Soubi, standing up. He picked Katsu and Rai up and flipped them over his shoulder, one on each. "Just lead the way."

* * *

The sun shone down in her eyes as Katsu woke up, feeling very groggily. She put her hand over her eyes so that she wouldn't go blind. She then noticed that there was a chill, quite oblivious to the fact that her shirt wasn't on her body, until she tried to put her arms around her to get warm. She screamed, which frightened Ritsuka, who was about a foot away from her, washing her shirt in the pond.

Katsu turned her head to him and picked up a rock, wailing it at him. Ritsuka ducked just in time as the rock splashed into the pond.

"What do you think you're doing with my shirt?!" she screamed. Ritsuka dropped her shirt to cover his ears, trying to save his ability to hear from the piercing scream. "I'm fucking freezing over here and you have my shirt! You're going to pay, you fucking pervert!"

"I'm not a pervert, let me explain!"

"You ARE a pevert! And you were worried that I was going to join you in bed last night, now I wonder what you did to me while I was sleeping!"

"I did nothing to you! And can't you see that I'm trying to clean your shirt?!"

"You are a pervert, because you could have at least covered me with something! But you didn't! You wanted to look at me like this! I bet you were just curious to see what kind of a bra I had on! Oh, for all I know, this could also be a joy ride for that stupid Soubi…"

"I was doing you a favor!"

"Well, thanks for the favor, but you're still a pervert!"

Katsu slammed her elbow into the ground and tried to sit herself up. She yelped in pain and fel back down again, making her yell even more. Ritsuka shook out her shirt as best as he could and threw it on her face.

"There's your shirt, blood free!" he said. "Now where's my thank you?!"

"Thanks a lot, you fucking perv." said Katsu, taking the shirt off her face. She felt a pang in her stomach and looked down. Her whole stomach was patched up with medical tape from all around. She looked at him and growled. "Turn around! I at least want _some _privacy!"

Ritsuka huffed and turned around to let Katsu put her shirt on. What did it matter to him? It wasn't like she was taking more clothes off, just putting the shirt that _he _took off back on her. She made no sense!

There was an annoying poking on his leg and he turned. Katsu had her arm raised up, as if she was going to answer a question in school.

"What do you want?"

"I want to get up!" demanded Katsu. She waved her arm in the air frantically. "I hurt too much to do it myself!"

Getting up on his own, he grabbed Katsu and attempted to pull her up. She wasn't helping him at all, so it took him a few moments more before he had her up on her own feet. Shaking her head, making her black hair move about, she looked around at the rocky shore that they were on.

"Where's Rai?" she asked. "And Soubi?"

"Soubi took Rai home with him," explained Ritsuka. "While I was bandaging you up, he called for a cab and took him back to the apartment."

Katsu cocked her head to the side. "Why didn't he leave him here with me?"

Ritsuka looked down at the ground. "He wasn't…waking up from his sleep."

He closed his eyes. He knew the kind of looked Katsu was giving him. It was probably a mixture of hurt, anger, and worry. But he couldn't bear to look at her face. He knew how she felt right now, after the few times Soubi got hurt in a fight. And plus, she might start crying, and he didn't want to deal with that from her.

"Why didn't he wake up?"

"Soubi thinks that when you were knocked out and the battle was over that they continued to hurt Rai." said Ritsuka, taking a look at her. She didn't look too bad.

Katsu took her cell out and began to dial someone. "He's not going to die, is he?"

"No, he's not. Soubi says that he'll be fine, if he treats him properly. He thinks he'll be awake in the next day or two."

Katsu nodded at him and put the phone to her ear. Everything suddenly got very quiet. Ritsuka could even hear the ringing coming from the cell. When he heard a voice pick up, Katsu turned her back on him and began to speak into the phone.

"Ritsu-sensei, we have a problem. Peaceful tried to attack Ritsuka today while he was in school. They tried to enter it, but we stopped them. We lost the battle though, but they ran away. I was in too much pain so I went to sleep. Theory is that they came back for a no good sneaky attack and hurt Rai real bad. You should see the things they did to me, too! They carved our stomachs with a knife, like they were chipping at a wooden sculpture! They signed our stomachs with a P! Pisses me off to no end…anyway, Rai's still out and Soubi thinks he won't wake up for another day or two. Without a Fighter, Lightless is kinda nothing right now. Do you want us off the case?"

There was a long string of mumbling coming from the other end of the phone, but Ritsuka couldn't hear what Ritsu was saying. He saw the nods from Katsu and the occasional "mms" coming from her. Then at one point, Katsu shouted a "no" and there was silence. This continued on for another minute and when Ritsu's voice came back for just a moment, Katsu closed her phone.

"What's going on?" asked Ritsuka, his tail wagging. He was curious and maybe Katsu was going back to the school.

"We're being replaced with another available team." Replied Katsu, putting her cell back into her purse. "It's only temporary, until Rai wakes up."

"So this means you're leaving?" Ritsuka was getting very happy, but kept it concealed.

"No." said Katsu. The very word crushed Ritsuka's dreams. "He wanted to leave Rai here and take me back before I got hurt too, but I told him no. I'm not leaving Rai's side." She sighed. "He says that he's sending a team over to Soubi's place right now."

"Who's he sending over?"

* * *

Soubi was sitting on his bed with Rai's sleeping body next to him. He had a lit cigarette in his mouth and he was reading a novel when he heard a knock on the front door. Since he had his nose in the book, he didn't want to leave his room. He knew it wasn't Ritsuka. Ritsuka said he would call before he left to go there. But the continuous knocking got on Soubi's nerves, making him grab a bookmark that was on his computer's desk and place it inside the book and close it. He put the novel on the bed, hoping that Rai wouldn't knock it over in his sleep over something.

The knocking got louder and faster the closer he got to the door. He was ready to just rip it off the hinges.

When he opened the door, he couldn't believe the two people who were standing outside the door.

"We're back, Soubi! You look as good as you did before!"

"Where's that cute, little Ritsuka? I can't wait to see him!"

It was Natsuo and Youji.

* * *

I love these guys! Natsuo and Youji are my favorite…Now that I've got these two, there might be some, err, action going on in the next chapter…


	7. Chapter 7

I needed to get a little stress relief from all the school work I've been pounded on this week, so this chapter contains no drama. Sorry!

Nothing but shonen-ai yaoi and comical acts!

**Chapter 7**

Ritsuka sat uncomfortably on the floor, cross-legged, as he stared straight on at the delinquents who were sitting on top of Soubi's desk, drinking soda. He had the suspicious feeling that they would "accidentally" pour it on the machine.

Natsuo and Youji were joking around with each other, whispering secrets in each others ears, chuckling mischievously at what the other had to say. Natsuo seemed to be wearing some sort of a thing that resembled a school girl's uniform, but it looked oddly good on him. It was a short-sleeved white shirt, with a red outline going down the triangular part in the shirt that started by its collar. His red shorts matched perfectly with the top, with a cherry on the left pants leg.

Youji was flipping his long, light blue hair as he drank his soda. He looked cute too, in his little, tight blue shirt that exposed his stomach. His tail was wrapped around his leg, which was covered in a pair of black jeans.

He leaned in to Natsuo and flipped his brownish-reddish hair to tell him something. Natsuo looked up at the ceiling, and after a second, tightened his mouth to try and not laugh. Ritsuka couldn't help but feel angry. They were probably talking about him, and there was no one who could help him. Soubi had gone out to go grab food for them, and Katsu fell asleep again, and she was lying on the living room couch.

"What are you two talking about?" Ritsuka asked them, lowering his head with his ears twitching. "I don't like it when people whisper around me. It's rude."

"We're sorry, but we can't help it." said Youji, moving his head away from Natsuo. "There are just some things me and Natsuo don't tell anyone else."

Natsuo jumped off the desk and landed right in front of Ritsuka, making him scoot back in surprise. "That's the whole point of a secret, Ritsuka!" He grabbed one of Ritsuka's ears and played with them in his fingers. "They're so soft! Youji, come and take a look at this!"

"I'd feel a whole lot better if you two went and did something else…"

Youji got off the desk, smirking at the black haired cat boy. Walking in a smooth pace, he got down behind Ritsuka and wrapped him in a tight hug. He cringed.

"I don't need to feel his ears to know that they're soft," said Youji, rubbing his head against Ritsuka's. "His whole body is soft."

"Get off of me…"

"Aww, but we can't help it!" squealed Natsuo. "You're just too cute!"

Youji gently kissed him on top of his head. This sent Ritsuka wailing. He struggled to get free of the Zero, but instead landed on the floor, on his side, with Youji still hugging him, his body pressed up against his back. Ritsuka started yelling, hoping that Katsu would wake up and save him. There would be no point in hurting Youji, because he couldn't feel any pain, but he had to get away from him…somehow…before the unthinkable happened…

Youji kept on kissing his cat ears, then moved down and took a nip at his human ear. Natsuo whimpered and wagged his tail.

"Can't I have him for a bit?" he asked. "I haven't seen Ritsuka in a while too…"

"When I'm done with him." said Youji, as he tried to tug Ritsuka's shirt off him.

Ritsuka shut his eyes closed.

_This is it, good-bye ears…! _He thought, before someone walked into the room.

"Youji, what do you think you're doing?"

Ritsuka opened his eyes to the familiar voice and looked up. Soubi had entered the room, carrying two grocery bags full of food and drinks. He was looking down at Youji with wide, curious eyes.

"Soubi!" cried Natsuo, standing up.

"Hey there, Sou-chan!" said Youji. He started to pet Ritsuka's head. "You don't mind if I borrow him for the night, do you?"

"I do mind." said Soubi. He walked further into the room and kicked the door closed behind him, placing the bags down by his feet. "Ritsuka doesn't look like he's having fun. And plus, I don't think you should touch him like that."

"Oh what, you telling me you haven't thought about doing stuff with him like this too?"

The Zero was unexpectedly picked up by the cuff of his shirt by Soubi and was thrown out of the room. He closed the door once again and helped Ritsuka up, brushing off the dirt that was on his shirt that came off the floor. He hadn't really cleaned his room in months.

Natsuo sighed. "Soubi, this is the second time you've kicked Youji out of a room. Please let him in."

"He was trying to violate him!" said Soubi. Ritsuka nodded in agreement.

"Violate him?" repeated Natsuo. He sounded shocked. "He wasn't trying to do that! He was just having some fun!"

"He was trying to get my shirt to come off!" shouted Ritsuka, hissing.

"Is that a bad thing?" Natsuo asked, putting his finger up to his mouth.

"YES!"

The other Zero shrugged. "I still think that it was fun. But since I was going to play with Ritsuka too, I'll leave the room as well."

Soubi sighed. "You don't have to be like that."

"Oh, but I must!" said Natsuo, opening the door. He was nearly half-way out of the room when he turned around and winked at the two of them. "I was going to do more than that."

* * *

Dinner seemed to be going quiet. The assortment of soda was placed in the middle of the table for everyone to reach. Katsu woke up a little while before dinner was ready, but said that she wasn't hungry, and fell right back to sleep. She was exhausted from what happened to her. Ritsuka was twirling around the spaghetti in his bowl with his silver fork. He was looking down at the Italian pasta in this bowl. He didn't really want to eat it. He knew that he wanted to try and eat healthier, but it was going to be pretty hard to not eat five Big Macs every week.

He looked up from his food and looked at everyone. Soubi was right next to him, slurping up one single strand of spaghetti into his mouth. Slowly. Very, very slowly. Ritsuka turned and looked at Youji and Natsuo, who were both sitting across the table from them. They were both smashing their meatballs into mush with their forks. They looked like they were having fun with it. With all the slurping and the smashing, Ritsuka wondered why Soubi even made all of this stuff.

_Better break the silence, _he thought.

"Umm…so guys…"said Ritsuka, placing his fork down in his bowl. "Natsuo. Youji." They both looked up from their mashed meatballs. "How are you two?"

"We're doing just fine." said Natsuo, smiling at him. "Nagisa-sensei is very happy with our progress. She doesn't like it that Ritsu-sensei is teaching us, but we've gotten better with spell battles!"

Youji nodded, scooping up some meat and put it in his mouth. "You two should face us some time. I want to try you out, Ritsuka."

Ritsuka shivered at the very thought of dealing with more Zeroes. He looked over at Soubi to see if he wanted to say something, but he instead groaned.

Soubi was still slurping the same piece of spaghetti.

"Soubi!" shouted Ritsuka.

Soubi looked at him.

"Why don't you cut that thing?!"

Soubi shook his head, splashing little bits of sauce on to Ritsuka's face.

"Soubi doesn't want to stop." said Natsuo. He started twirling with his food. "He wants to show you his tongue action."

Soubi stopped slurping and began to cough. He leaned forward, letting the pasta out of his mouth and into the bowl. He couldn't stop coughing. Ritsuka jumped out of his seat and started screaming.

"He's choking!" yelled Ritsuka, flailing his arms in the arm. "I think he's choking!"

"I've got it!" said Youji, getting out of his seat and running over to him.

Soubi stood up, hitting his chair with his fist. Youji ran behind him and wrapped his arms around his gut and started pumping his arms into his stomach. He started coughing harder and harder. With one, final pump, Soubi coughed up the piece of spaghetti. It went flying across the room and hit someone's head.

"Ewww!"

Katsu was standing there, next to Natsuo, with Soubi's coughed up piece of pasta right there, square on her forehead. She was clenching her fist and grinding her teeth, letting out little words of "eww" as the pasta slid down her forehead and slowly onto the ridge of her nose. Natsuo picked up the spaghetti and popped it into his mouth. Katsu slowly turned her head to look at him, and he gave her a smile.

"Soubi, drink this!" said Ritsuka, quickly grabbing his glass of soda.

Soubi put it to his lips and quickly gulped the drink down. He took in a deep breath when he was finished, putting the glass back on the table.

"That-was-really-really-gross." said Katsu, still grinding her teeth. "I-was-about-to-come-in-here-and-get-a-little-something-to-eat-but-now-I-don't-think-I-really-want-to- anymore."

"Hey, you're the cutie that I saw sleeping on the couch earlier, when I went out to grab a cookie in the kitchen!" Youji pointed right at her.

Katsu gave him a quizzical look.

"What's your name?"

"It's Katsu…I'm the Sacrifice of Lightless. You must be the Sacrifice of Zero. Ritsu emailed me pictures of you on my cell phone before I got here."

Youji smiled and slowly walked over to her. "The name's Youji, girly."

"And I'm Natsuo!" said the other Zero, raising up his hand. He didn't want to feel alone in this introduction.

Katsu nodded at him. "Listen, I think that I'm going to go back to sleep now--"

"Why would you do that?" asked Youji, standing next to her.

Ritsuka saw this, but said nothing. He had to take care of Soubi. Soubi was now coughing up his second glass of soda. He drank too fast. He picked up a napkin and wiped Soubi's mouth cleaned of sauce and drink.

"Like I said before, I lost my appetite." said Katsu, smiling at him.

"But me and Natsuo want to get to know you more." said Youji, wrapping his arm around her waist.

There was a crash and bowls and food went into the air. Youji was lying on his back on the table, looking up at the ceiling. Katsu had taken his arm and flung him. His own bowl of food came crashing down on to his face. Natsuo pointed at him and laughed his head off as Katsu huffed and puffed, storming out of the kitchen.

* * *

So, how did you guys think of it? Think I did Natsuo and Youji's personalities well? Please let me know!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Is he awake?"

"Should we wake him?"

"Let's push him!"

"Guys, shut up, that's not how you wake him up! Let me show you!"

Ritsuka felt someone poke his cheek, but did nothing about it. He wasn't sure where he was, but he was lying on something soft and warm. He didn't want to leave this place; it felt so good to him. But the poking was annoying.

The poking stopped, but then something else happened to him. His tail was pulled. Ritsuka yelped in pain and jumped out of the bed and rolled on to the wooden floor. He was lying on his back with his eyes staring up into the three faces of Natsuo, Youji, and Katsu. The two Zeroes were smiling down at him and Katsu was waving her hand inches away from his nose. He was extremely tempted to rip off a finger or two with his teeth.

"What do you guys want?" he asked, then looked down at himself. He was dressed in purple pajamas. "Where did these come from?"

"You don't remember anything, do you? Silly!" giggled Katsu. "You collapsed right in front of us while we were watching that movie last night about the moose! Remember?" She shuddered at the thought. "Oh, the creepy moose in that small, white room, eating walnuts…"

"And then me and Youji went out to buy you something to sleep in because you didn't have anything!" said Natsuo. "Soubi put you in them!"

"We put you in bed with Soubi," Youji said right after.

Ritsuka shook his head in bewilderment, sending his jet black hair flying. He slept with Soubi? He turned to look at where he fell from and saw that he indeed fell right out of Soubi's bed. The man was still sleeping in it, slightly snoring. Ritsuka stood up, making everyone move away from him. Rubbing his eyes, he let out a yawn and then scratched his back.

"Why'd you wake me up?" he asked the three of them.

"Umm…school…remember?" said Natsuo.

The cat boy jumped in the air and looked wildly around. "School! I almost forgot! Where are my clothes?! Where's my bag?! Where's my brush?!" He tried to flatten his hair, but it was no good. It was still sticking out in parts. "I don't believe this!"

"Calm down, calm down." said Katsu, moving her hands up and down in the air just a little. "Your clothes and bag are out in the living room. You put them in there yesterday. Youji went over your house last night and got your brush, tooth brush, deodorant, etc, etc…"

"How did you get into my room?!"

"I picked the lock to your front door." said Youji, showing all of his teeth in a smile.

Ritsuka stomped at the ground. "Then why aren't I wearing my other pajamas?!"

"Soubi said he wanted you to have an extra pair here," said Natsuo, walking over to the computer. He knelt down on the floor and pressed the power button to start it up. "He said you wouldn't have to worry about clothes to sleep in when you come over here then."

Ritsuka twitched at the thought. There were a few times he had slept over Soubi's place, but Natsuo was making it sound like something more happened while they were there. And if anyone saw Ritsuka, they could clearly tell nothing had happened.

But he said nothing to this. Instead, he spun around and ran out of the room, slamming the door shut. Katsu shook her head, clicking her tongue.

"That boy has such bad manners."

* * *

Ritsuka ran down the street, splashing in the brown puddles wherever he went, which were the only figures of matter left by the snow that once lay there before. He was wearing his black overcoat, the one that he brought to Soubi's, and basically everything else that he wore the other day. His messenger bag was banging against his leg as he swerved passed the kids who were also trying to get to school on time. Soubi's house was so far away from his school and Ritsuka didn't want anyone else to waste their money on him for a while. Natsuo and Youji were following him, but Ritsuka doubted that anyone could see them. Knowing those two, they were probably hiding behind cars, being the awesome little ninjas that they were.

The other kids were moving faster then them, passing Ritsuka and going straight through the gates and into the school. Ritsuka quickly spun around the corner through the gates as the last of the other students closed the door to the school behind him. He roared in rage and tried to run faster, but someone had grabbed him by his coat.

He slid to a stop and looked over his shoulder to see that Youji was holding him. He was looking up at the school, with Natsuo doing the same behind him.

"What's wrong?" asked Ritsuka.

"This school. I don't like it." said Youji. "Something's not right about it at all."

"We're gonna walk you in." said Natsuo.

Ritsuka looked at the school again. He didn't know if there was anything wrong with it, but he knew that if he got in after the bell, Shinonome-sensei would not be pleased at all. He shook Youji off him and started to run to the school again.

"Hey!" screamed Youji after him. "What part of 'walk you in' did you not get?! You're running!"

"He's so funny, our Rit-chan," said Natsuo, smiling and looking at Youji.

At that, they dashed after him catching the door as soon as Ritsuka went inside. The hallways were completely empty and eerily quiet. Ritsuka stopped and bent over, placing his hands on his knees to try and catch his breath. He saw Natsuo and Youji's feet move next to him.

"You sure you should be here right now?" asked Youji.

"Yeah-I-have-to!" said Ritsuka, still gasping for breath. "I-have-to-go-to-school!"

"Don't think today was the best day." said Natsuo.

Ritsuka stood up straight and was about to ask them what they were talking about when he saw two people dressed in black cloaks came walking down the staircase in front of them. The hoods were pulled over their heads so no one could see who was underneath it. Ritsuka hid behind Youji and Natsuo. The two put their hands on their hips.

"And who the hell are you guys?" asked Youji.

"We are Peaceful." said one, pulling their hood down. It turned out to be a boy, with no ears on top of his head, with brown hair and a tattoo of a sun on his cheek.

The other pulled down their hood, revealing a girl with no ears as well and the same tattoo and hair color. "We're here to claim Loveless."

Youji and Natsuo looked at each other and burst out in laughter. Their laughs rung all over the area.

"You're not touching Ritsuka at all!" laughed Natsuo, stepping forward. "We promised Ritsu-sensei and Nagisa-sensei we wouldn't let anything happen to him!"

The male Peacful stepped forward. "I declare a spell battle!"

"I accept!" yelled Natsuo in response.

A blue mist erupted from the floor and spun around them by some powerful unknown wind. Ritsuka knelt down on the floor behind Youji and quivered. Youji looked down at him.

"You'd better run!" he said. "Things might get ugly and it would be pretty pointless to fight someone if you ended up getting hurt by them!"

Ritsuka nodded, got up, and ran out of the mist. As soon as he left, he heard Natsuo and the boy shouting words at each other, with blasts of explosions and other things behind him. He wanted to get far away from the area. He didn't want to get caught in someone's spell.

As he ran down the hallway, he saw the first classroom. He ran up to the door and tried to turn the knob, but couldn't. The door was locked. He peered inside through the little window and saw that a class was in session and that the teacher was only a few feet away from the door, writing something in kanji on the chalkboard.

"Please, let me in!" yelled Ritsuka, pounding on the door. "You have to open the door!"

The teacher didn't seem to hear him at all. He gave up and ran to the next classroom door and did the same procedure once again, but got the same result. He did it again to another door, and another, and another. Nothing good came out of it.

"Can no one hear me at all?" he asked himself. "C-Can they even see me?"

He put his hands to his face and turned them about. He didn't _seem _invisible. He heard a crash come from down the hall, where he had left, and he started running again.

_Maybe Shinonome-sensei can help me! _, he thought.

It took him a minute to get to her door and stopped right in front of it. He took a look inside. No one was sitting in the desks and Shinonome-sensei wasn't at the front of the classroom where she always was. She wasn't even at her desk. He pressed his face up against the glass. Maybe they were in the back. He looked down at the doorknob and turned it. The knob moved, allowing Ritsuka to take a step into his classroom.

"Shinonome-sensei?" asked Ritsuka. He looked at the back and gasped in fright.

Katsu was tied up to a chair with duck-tape over her mouth. She seemed to be knocked out. Two more people dressed in black coats were right behind the chair, one being a girl, the other a guy. They both had the same sun tattoo as the others. The boy had dark blue hair tied up in a ponytail and the girl and short blonde hair the curled under her ears. These people had their cat like attributes. The boy was holding a match and a match-box and the girl was holding a gallon of gasoline.

"What are you doing to Katsu?!" screamed Ritsuka. He walked up to one of the desks in the front row and slammed his hand into it. He had to be brave. "Let her go now!"

"You scared of what we'll do to her?" asked the girl.

"Just come with us and we'll let her go," said the boy.

Ritsuka violently shook his head. "No, I won't! I want you to let her go now!"

"Sorry, those are our rules, little one." said the girl. Her lips curled into a sinister smile. "Unless you want to fight us."

"Something tells me that little Loveless doesn't know any spells!" laughed the boy. "He can't save anyone!"

He threw his head back and laughed. The girl joined with him. Ritsuka slammed his other hand into the desk and bit his bottom lip. He didn't want to cry, but he didn't know what else to do. They were right, he couldn't do anything to help Katsu. And who knew if Natsuo and Youji were alright. Even though they're Zeros, they do have their one weakness…

_Soubi. I need you, Soubi!_

"You called for me, Ritsuka?"

He turned to see Soubi standing behind him, dressed up in his white coat with leopard like dots on it. It reached down to his knees, which were covered with black jeans. The other two stopped laughing, but were still chuckling.

"And just what are you supposed to be?" asked the girl. "A jungle cat?"

"Very funny, but I at least have more of a fashion sense than you two," said Soubi. "That was pretty funny and clever. I was told that you Peaceful don't have personalities."

"We don't, but we're implanted with them soon after the memory process is finished," said the boy. He threw his match and box to the ground, folding his arms. "You seemed to be very informed."

Ritsuka tugged on Soubi's jacket. "How did they get Katsu?"

"You know, we _can _hear you!" said the girl. "We caught her walking around Soubi's place, so we caught her. It's very easy to capture a Sacrifice. We only needed one piece of bait to get you to come with us, so we didn't go after the Fighter."

"Give me your names." stated Soubi.

"My name is One." said the boy.

"And mine is Two." said the girl.

"Ritsuka." Soubi whispered. Ritsuka looked up at him and he felt him kiss him on the forehead. "Do you want me to fight for you?"

Ritsuka nodded his head. Soubi held out his arm.

"I declare a spell battle!"

Two stepped up closer. "And I accept."

* * *

Yahoo, our first battle! Well, the beginning of the first battle…cool! Give me some reviews about this!

Oh, and at the beginning when Katsu was talking about that moose thing...it was a little thing from an Invader Zim episode. Zim had all of the school kids on a bus that took them into some dimensional vortex that either took them back to Earth or to a white room with only a moose in it, eating walnuts...


	9. Chapter 9

And just to clear some things up, Two is the Fighter and One is the Sacrifice. Seriously, when I started to type this chapter up, I couldn't remember who was who and I didn't have the 8th chapter one here or Internet access of my laptop. XD

**Chapter 9**

The lights flickered in the classroom until everything went completely black. No one could be seen at first, until a blast of light erupted from beneath One and Two. Ritsuka shielded his eyes from the light with his arm. One and Two took each others hands, entwining their fingers. The symbols on their faces began to glow as they chanted.

"_Stopping the wars within this world and in our souls, we dominate all others that oppose us with our justice_."

One and Two turned to look at Soubi and Ritsuka, smirking.

"_We are Peaceful, and with that name, we will drive all evil from your bodies with your defeat!_"

"Some battle cry you have there," asked Soubi. "And what evil do we posses?"

"The evil of pesky adults!" cried Two. She threw out her arm. "_Bolts of thunder come crashing down upon them!_"

Before Soubi could even react to their attack, Ritsuka was electrocuted. His back arched in pain as a metallic collar attached itself to his neck and chains were tied around his wrists. Soubi looked down at himself and saw that he was chained up too.

Ritsuka fell to the ground breathing heavily. They were powerful. He had never felt such pain in his life. He could feel something was lodged in his throat, tickling him as he gasped. He began to cough, trying to bring whatever it was up. He looked down at the panels of the classroom floor and realized that he was coughing of blood.

Soubi heard him coughing and turned around. "Ritsuka--!"

"_Let the world come spiraling down on them, crushing their very beings!_"

Parts of the ceiling started to crack. Soubi looked up just in time to think of an idea.

"_We are protected by the sense of reality!_" shouted Soubi. "_We are stronger then you!_"

The part of the ceiling around a panel became weak. It fell above them and was headed straight for Soubi and Ritsuka. Just then, the panel bounced off of a barrier encircling around the two of them. Two grunted.

"A protection and a power-up spell," she muttered. "_Infiltrate them--!_"

"_Denied._"

A wave of energy that had been sent from Two bounced off of Soubi's barrier and was headed straight for Peaceful. It hit One, sending him falling to the ground. Two spun around to see a metallic collar around One's neck.

"Don't stop!" muttered One, as he got back to his feet, pulling on his collar. "You've given them momentum! Take it back!"

Ritsuka wiped his mouth of blood, grabbed on to Soubi and pulled himself up.

"Find their weakness," he said to Soubi. "They have to have a weakness."

"_Bind them together with the earth!_" shouted Two, stepping forward. "_Intensify its strength with every move they make!_"

Vines sprung up from the floor underneath Ritsuka and Soubi, wrapping their legs together. Ritsuka fell to the ground as the vines turned into a cold black. He struggled to be set free, but the vines tightened and something was being pierced into his legs. The vines were growing thorns. Suddenly, the collar around Ritsuka's neck grew smaller. He coughed up even more blood.

"Soubi!" he cried.

Soubi was down on his knees as the barrier he put up fell. His collar had shrunk as well, and he was gasping for breath. He turned to look at his Sacrifice, who was sweating in pain and whose legs were slowly being covered in his own blood.

"Please, hang in there, Ritsuka," whispered Soubi.

"There's no way he can!" yelled Two from across the room. "Just look at him! He can't take much more of this!"

"Just forfeit the battle and we'll take Loveless," said One. He folded his arms and smirked. "At least he won't be in anymore pain if you do that."

Soubi shook his head, still gasping. "Forfeiting the battle…would mean that I would no long be a Fighter unit…" He glared at the two of them. "I will not have that."

Two chuckled and turned to her Sacrifice. "He just doesn't give up, does he?"

One smiled. "I guess it's time then. I still think we should relieve Loveless of his pain."

Two nodded. She turned to look at the pitiful team before her.

"_Loveless's memories are ou--!_"

Suddenly, Two's eyes widened. She fell forward and hit the ground. The darkness surrounding everyone dissipated and revealed the classroom. A chair was lying next to Two's body. One rushed over to her and helped her up. The vines and the chains attached to Soubi and Ritsuka's body disappeared. One's chains were gone as well. Ritsuka was still coughing, but had enough strength to stand up on his wobbly legs. Soubi got up and held him close.

Two scratched the back of her head. "That thing hit me! Who did that?!"

"I did!"

One and Two turned around to see who was talking to them. It was Rai. He had untied Katsu's unconscious body and was holding her marriage style in his arms. The tape across her mouth had been ripped off. He was glaring at Peaceful, his tail wagging furiously.

"_I declare this battle over._"

"You can't just do that!" yelled Two. She turned to look at One doubtfully. "Can he?"

"On rare occasions, an outer force can interrupt a battle and close it," explained Soubi. He was petting Ritsuka's head, which was smudged against his body. "Do you still wish to continue?"

"And that means that you'll have to face me as well," said Rai, making Two and One gaze turn from Soubi to him. "As of recently, it's been decided that two or more teams can face off against one team. I will go on Auto."

"You'll set your systems to that?!" laughed Two. "That's mocking us! We can take all of you on!"

One quickly grabbed her arm. She looked at him and saw that he was shaking his head at her. Two's ears flattened and she sighed. Her Sacrifice stepped in front of her.

"Excuse my Fighter's behavior," he said. "We will not take you on as of now. But we will be back to claim Loveless."

In but a blink of an eye, Peaceful was gone. At the same time, noise was heard in the hallways. Youji and Natsuo came bustling in through the door without a scratch on them.

"We finally found you guys!" yelled Natsuo, running up to Soubi. He looked just like a shocked little girl. "We were facing off with Peaceful and they just suddenly disappeared!" He saw Ritsuka's eyes closed and poked at his cheek. "Hey, what's he doing? Is he sleeping?"

"Mah eyes are jist clohsed," said Ritsuka, who could barely speak. His mouth was being force fed Soubi's jacket.

Youji noticed Rai and walked up to him, with his hands on his hips, shaking them as he went. He went straight up to Rai, looking him straight in the eye.

"And just who the hell are you?" asked Youji. "And why are you handling Katsu like that? She doesn't like to be touched at all!"

"She is my Sacrifice and I will handle her as she pleases."

Youji smiled, placing a hand on Katsu's cat ear. He twisted it playfully.

"Then why does she still have her ears?"

Natsuo watched as his Sacrifice bent double over as Rai hit him in a very unpleasant spot. Youji spun around, tripping over his own feet and hit the wall. Natsuo sighed, looking down in disgrace and shaking his head.

"Youji, you are such a pervert."

* * *

Back in Soubi's room, Ritsuka watched as Katsu was lying helplessy in Soubi's bed, attented to by Rai. He was sitting right by the bedside, waiting on her every command. Ritsuka was sitting on the computer chair, watching at how Rai listened to her. If she ordered him to get her a drink, he'd do it. If she ordered him to fix the pillow, he'd do it. If she ordered to blow an annoying piece of fuzz off her nose, he would do it and wouldn't complain on how stupid the request was.

Ritsuka folded his arms on the back of the chair and rested his head on his arms, silently staring. Was this how Soubi wanted to be treated?

_I can't do this,_ thought Ritsuka. _It's like how you should treat an animal. And Soubi is not an animal._

"Ritsuka, come inside!"

His ears perked up as he heard Natsuo call his name. He got up, pushed the chair in, and walked outside the room, closing the door as he went. Youji, Natsuo, and Soubi were all sitting onthe couch. Soubi was smoking a cigarette and Natsuo and Youji were drinking cans of soda. Ritsuka walked up to them, which made Natsuo and Youji look up.

"What's up?" Ritsuka asked them.

Soubi turned his head as far as he could from the children and let out a puff of smoke. "Once again, it seems that we have a unit from Lightless down. But Katsu will be up on her feet by the end of the day. She's just being overly dramaticed about what's happened to her."

Ritsuka nodded his head. He didn't want to say it, but if Soubi said it, then it must be alright. Right?

"Nagisa-sensei and Ritsu-sensei want us to stay on the case," said Youji, taking a sip from his can. "They both said that this case was getting out of hand and two teams would be needed. So, we're here to stay!"

"Alright, so I guess that's ok," said Ritsuka. "Where are you two going to be staying?"

Soubi choked on his smoke. He looked at Ritsuka with a smile on his face.

"I was wondering if they could stay with you."

Ritsuka jumped at the thought. He would have pounced on Soubi, but he didn't want to get burnt by his cigarette. Natsuo was smiling at him, wagging his tail in a playful sort of way. Youji wasn't paying much attention anymore. Since he said his piece, he was busy drinking his soda and staring at Natsuo's ears.

"Are you kidding me?!" cried Ritsuka. He pointed at Youji. "What about him?!"

"I've told Youji that all you have to do is call me on your phone or in your thoughts and he'll be gone. I have no more room in my place."

"But you did it before! When Rai was hurt, they both stayed here!"

"And Katsu could have left whenever she felt like it," said Soubi, taking in more smoke. "The Sacrifice doesn't have to stay near the Fighter if he is sick or hurt. The Sacrifice may treat the Fighter, but the Fighter doesn't have to accept the help. And there are some things that only a Fighter unit wants to go through by themselves."

Ritsuka stopped fussing about and stared at Soubi. His eyes had a somber look about them. Then he let out his smoke and continued.

"But since the Sacrifice is hurt this time, the Fighter can't leave at all," he said. "Katsu doesn't want to leave my place, so that means that Rai will be staying here. No one will be at home to watch you, so you'll have to take Natsuo and Youji. Unless you really want to stay here." He patted little Youji on the head, who was still distracted by Natsuo's ears.

Ritsuka shook his head. "No...Mother will be wondering where I am. I have to go back."

"Ok then!" shouted Natsuo, leaping off the couch like a cat. Youji growled playfully as Natsuo landed gracefully on his feet before Ritsuka. "Then I guess we'll be leaving real soon!"

"Oh, and Ritsuka?" asked Youji, who finally swatted Soubi's hand off his head. He got off the couch and stood there. "If I can't have any fun with you...can I have fun with your Mom?"

Soubi took Youji's can of soda and poured it on his head. The poor boy, crying about his hair, ran into the bathroom. The all heard the sink turn on and powerful water squirt out. Natsuo laughed and ran into the bathroom to either watch Youji suffer or to help him. Ritsuka smirked and looked at Soubi, who innocently was looking away, still smoking. Natsuo had to follow him. After all, he was the Fighter. He did whatever his master ordered him to do.

* * *

I'm sorry the fight had to be so short. I really didn't know how to do it. So yeah.

Yay, Natsuo and Youji are going to have a sleepover!


	10. Chapter 10

I thought I would give you guys something before I went down to Florida for Spring Break. . Hope you guys like this one. The first half has a bit of a personal ending that should really make people think. You'll see.

**Chapter 10**

The yellow taxi dropped off the three cat boys, Ritsuka, Natsuo, and Youji off right in front of the Aoyagi residence. It was late in the evening, with the crescent moon rising above the wispy clouds. Ritsuka began walking up the steps towards his house, with his key in his hand. The other two were creeping up behind him, not making a sound. Ritsuka looked at the both of them as he put his key into the keyhole.

_They had better be quiet once we get in, _he thought. _If Mother catches me with friends at this time of the day, she'll be very upset._

He twisted the key and the door clicked open. Silently turning the knob, he took a step inside and looked around. The whole house was dark. His Mother's bedroom door was closed, and he heard one of her favorite soap operas on in her room. Or at least, he thought it was her favorite. It was on most of the time when she was in there. His Mother never really showed him what she liked and what she didn't like anymore. Except for 'Ritsuka'. She loved her 'Ritsuka'. And he knew that all too well.

Ritsuka motioned for Natsuo and Youji to come in. Youji walked straight on in, but Natsuo wiped his shoes off on the mat outside before he came in. Youji looked around, with his nose high up in the air.

"It's _very _homely here, Ritsuka." he whispered.

The boy who he was talking to had suddenly stopped breathing. The T.V in his Mother's room had just shut off.

"You want us to take care of her?" asked Natsuo, leaning into Ritsuka's neck.

"Shut up!" hissed Ritsuka.

He listened hard and heard something in the bedroom. Footsteps. As fast as he could, he grabbed the Zeroes by their arms and raced up the stairs with them, right into his room. He threw them in there, making them trip right over their feet and land right on the floor. Ritsuka closed his bedroom door on them just as they started to get up. He heard someone rustle right behind the door.

"Ritsuka."

It was Natsuo.

"Ritsuka, why are you doing this?"

"Mother is coming, be quiet," whispered Ritsuka, looking around.

"Ritsuka, you're not like us. You can't take this. We looked up what your Mother is doing to you. It's called 'child abuse'. Have you ever heard of it?"

"Sounds like a hell of a lot of fun!" shouted Youji from inside the room. "I think I'd be fine with it if I were with Natsuo, of course! And if I didn't have fun, I'd get to smack the parent around!" He laughed at his own insane fantasy. "Adults are so stupid! If they've had a bad day, they take their anger out on their kids! Nagisa-sensei would never hit us!"

"Just be quiet, you two," said Ritsuka, as he heard his Mother's bedroom door open. "I don't want you guys to do anything about this."

He looked at the stairs and saw his Mother looking right up at him. She was in her pink nightgown, her black, stringy hair full of knots. It looked like she hadn't gotten out of bed all day. She was giving him that blank stare that she always gave him. She had her hands behind her back. Ritsuka back up into his door.

"Who is that?" cried his Mother. "Who's up there?"

"It's me, Mother," said Ritsuka. "It's me, Ritsuka."

His Mother's eyes widened. "Ritsuka…?"

The boy nodded his head. At the bottom of the stairs, his Mother broke out into tears. He was used to the routine already. It happened basically every single day.

"You're not my Ritsuka!" she sobbed. "Ritsuka would have come home much earlier from school today! It's passed his curfew!" She glared up at him and pointed angrily with one finger. "You're not Ritsuka!"

"Mother, stop this…" Ritsuka calmly said, walking down the stairs. "Don't be so loud, please."

"And I heard voices! Who were they, you monster?!"

"Mother, please, just calm down…"

"I won't calm down until you tell me who they were!"

Once Ritsuka reached her at the bottom of the stairs, she grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket and held him close to her. And Ritsuka did nothing. He just stared her down, with a sad, concerned look in his eyes.

"You are not my Ritsuka! Bring back Ritsuka!"

His Mother pushed him to the floor. Then she pulled out her other arm from behind her back. It was his Father's brown, leather belt.

"I WANT RITSUKA!"

Youji and Natsuo were sitting down across from each other on Ritsuka's bedroom floor. They heard something like a whip crack through the air once. Twice. Three times. There were many more times, but they had stopped counting after three.

"Sounds like a belt," said Youji, crossing his arms.

"Yeah." said Natsuo, nodding his head.

Thuds were heard down stairs, and then the whipping began again.

"Soubi's gonna be pissed tomorrow if he sees that Ritsuka got hurt," said Youji. He looked at Natsuo and crawled over to him, giving him a hug and placing his head on his Fighter's shoulder.

"I wish we could help him," said Natsuo, looking at Youji. "But he said no."

"Yeah," said Youji. "I still think adults are stupid for hitting their kids. They should take their anger out on a puppy or something."

"Yeah."

Youji nuzzled into Natsuo's neck. "Somehow Ritsuka always comes out fine in the end when it's all over with though. Sure, he may have some bandages here and there, but he's really fine. Just like us. Only we weren't abused."

Natsuo patted him on the back. "Uh-uh. Remember? Another part of child abuse is 'neglect'. And that's what Nagisa-sensei did to us before. We looked it up after we heard about child abuse."

"Yeah," said Youji. He sighed. "But Ritsuka's not all like us. I'm sure this kid has his limit. One day, he might not turn out fine at all."

Natsuo nuzzled his Sacrifice's head and sighed. "I guess kids are stupid too."

"Yeah."

* * *

An hour or so later, the bedroom door to Ritsuka's room slowly opened and the water drenched boy came stumbling into the room. His shirt had been torn off, showing off the long, red marks the belt made on his back. Natsuo and Youji were asleep on top of his bed, snuggled up next to each other. Ritsuka looked at them and groaned, brushing wet hair out of his face.

He walked out of the room and into the bathroom to grab a towel. He turned the light on, pushing the water off his skin with the blue towel. He winced every time the material touched the sensitive red skin. He wiped off his face and threw the towel into the tub.

Placing his hands on the sink, he stared right at himself in the mirror. One of the marks on his neck was bleeding. That's where his Mother hit him first. He threw open a drawer and grabbed a box full of band aids. Before Ritsuka closed the drawer after he got the box, he noticed a crumpled up set of enclosed pills. Some of them were crushed.

"Whose are these?" he asked himself, taking them out. "Mother's? Why is she taking so much? That's unhealthy." He tossed the pills into the garbage, but couldn't help but look at them. "I hope Mother is alright."

"Ritsuka, what are you doing?"

Ritsuka spun around in fear, thinking it was his Mother about to hit him again or his Father coming to see the damage that had happened. But instead, it was Natsuo in the doorway, sleepily rubbing the eye that wasn't covered by his white eye patch.

"Just wiping myself down." replied Ritsuka.

"How did you get so wet?" asked Natsuo. He noticed the bleeding cut on Ritsuka's neck. "Ritsuka, you're bleeding!"

Ritsuka placed his hand over the cut. "I'm fine."

"Here, let me take care of you," said Natsuo, walking over to his back. He gasped. "Whoa, did your Mother do this to you? This is worse than what Youji does to me!"

"I'd rather not know what Youji does to you."

Natsuo grabbed the band aids and took a dozen of them out. "Some of the cuts are starting to bleed."

Ritsuka did nothing as the Zero began to patch him up with the sticky contraptions. When he was done, he put the box back on the sink. Ritsuka noticed that practically half of the box was empty. Was it really that bad on his back?

"There, you're done." said Natsuo.

"Thanks," said Ritsuka. "What time is it?"

"I think it said it was midnight when I woke up."

"I've got to go check the forums," said Ritsuka, getting out of the bathroom.

Wagging his tail along, Natsuo followed Ritsuka back into his room. He hopped back on the bed next to Youji, making the other one's body jump slightly into the air. But he didn't wake up. Natsuo placed his hands on his lap as Ritsuka sat down in front of his computer and started it up. The machine whizzed as the screen blinked and flashed. Then the computer started to make a high pitched noise. Natsuo brushed his hair off his shoulder.

"Does it always do that?" asked Natsuo.

"Yeah, this thing's kind of old," explained Ritsuka, as the computer finished starting everything up. He got on to the Internet as fast as he could and typed in a url. "I've got to go to the school's forum."

"The school's forum?" asked Natsuo, walking up behind Ritsuka. A blue screen popped on the computer's screen and a yellow square popped up on it, saying 'Enter'. "I never knew school's had forums."

"Only mine does," said Ritsuka, as he clicked the button. He typed in his username (Aoyagi21) and his password. "This is where all the kids from my school can get together to talk to each other. And plus, I can't call my friend Yuiko at this hour for homework, so I'm going to see if she's on."

"If she's on, why don't you just call her then?"

"If I call her and she picks up, she won't get off."

"Ahh."

He logged into the school's forum and was about to find Yuiko's account when he noticed something. At the top of the site was where the current topic was, with a summary of what the topic was about. This one was titled "Aoyagi's in Trouble!" and underneath it, it said "Who knew he could do something like this!" Curious, Ritsuka clicked on the topic link and was transferred to the original topic.

The topic starter was a boy Ritsuka knew from class. He scrolled through the message the boy and others had left and couldn't believe his eyes:

**Shiro25:** Did you guys notice? Aoyagi wasn't in class today! It's another day that he wasn't in school! He's been gone so many days this semester already! This kid might be expelled if he misses anymore school! But we've all got admit, he's weird. He only talks to Hawatari in class. Rumor has it that he's in a high school gang and only misses school to hang out with them and do drugs. And no one can say that this isn't a possibility. Who here agrees with me?

**Shima31:** You have a point. He's so quiet, it's creepy. And he has to be on something to ace every single test Shinonome-sensei gives us. He comes to school looking tired sometimes. Maybe he stays out late and smokes?

**Bonzai14:** I heard that he's part of the high school gang his brother was in. It's only a rumor that his brother was ever even in a gang, but you never know! I heard that his brother did something really bad, and that's why he was burnt to death! They say that Aoyagi was forced to join them to repay for whatever his brother did to them!

Ritsuka banged the back of his head against the chair. "I don't believe this. They think I'm a bad kid. Everyone thinks I'm a drug addict."

"I thought that's what normal kids always did," muttered Natsuo, stepping away.

Ritsuka sighed, shaking his head. Youji was mumbling in his sleep. He rubbed his face and turned on to his other side, facing the wall. Natsuo gleefully jumped on to the bed next to his partner and settled down on his back, closing his arms around the blue haired boy.

Something popped up on the screen. A new post was up. Ritsuka read it and smiled. It was Yuiko.

**Hawatari15:** No! Ritsuka would never do something like this! He's a good kid! And he helps me out when I know that I can't do something right! Ritsuka would never do drugs or skip school just because he could!

Ritsuka couldn't help but chuckle. At least he had one person who stood up for him. He yawned and stretched, glancing at his digital clock. The red digits said 12:15. It was starting to get really late. He turned around in his chair to look at his bed. His next thing to do was conduct a plan to get the two psychos off his bed.

In the corner of his eye, he saw something pop up on to the screen. He turned around to face the computer again to read what just popped it. It was from an account that he didn't recognize at all.

**PF01:** How do you know that Aoyagi isn't doing anything like that?

Ritsuka rested his chin on his palm, with his elbow propped on the desk. Who was this?

**Hawatari15:** Because I know him better than you!

**PF01:** Do you know that he gets into battles practically all the time?

**Hawatari15:** Battles? You mean like fights?

**PF01:** Yeah, like fights. He does them with Agatsuma.

**Hawatari15:** With Soubi? No one's ever told me this. Hey, who are you?!

The force of the words made Ritsuka fall off his chair. He climbed back on and with his shaking hand clicked on Yuiko's username. A tiny screen popped up and he began typing rapidly. Somehow, this person knew his secret. And he was going to tell Yuiko.

"I've got to tell her to stay away from them, they know about the spell battles," he whispered to himself. It was if he didn't want the walls to even hear of his secret.

As soon as he was finished with his message, he clicked the send button and prayed to God that Yuiko got it. Ritsuka looked at the screen and saw that the unknown person had typed something else.

**PF01:** Would you like me to pick you up tomorrow and show you what kind of fights he does?

Ritsuka waited to see if Yuiko would respond. But after a minute, the site had posted a reply saying that Yuiko had signed off. He sighed in relief, pushing his chair back from the desk. He got up from his seat and looked around for his cell phone in the dark. He didn't want to turn the lights on and wake anyone up. Finally, after finding the phone underneath his bed, he dialed Yuiko's number and held it up to his ear. Someone picked up.

"Ritsuka? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, Yuiko, everything's fine," whispered Ritsuka, sitting down on the floor next to his bed. He glanced at the glowing computer screen, the only source of light in his room besides the small amount from the phone. "You just have to promise me that you don't talk to that person ever again. And pass it on to Yayoi, alright?"

"Sure, I promise. But Ritsuka, who was that person? How did they get into the school's forums? I've never seen them around before!"

Ritsuka scratched his head to come up with a reasonable lie. "It's just this kid that liked to pick on me back in my old school. He must have somehow made an account on the forums. I just don't want you talking to him, he likes to make up lies about me and get me into trouble."

"But how did he know Soubi?"

"He might have seen me with Soubi before," said Ritsuka. "I've been to many places with him, so he could have noticed him."

"Alright then. Well, I'll let you go. But tomorrow we have off for a few days, so what are your plans? Would you like to h-hang out with me, Ritsuka?"

Ritsuka shook his head. "No, I can't. I'm busy for the whole break. But I'll call you or catch up with you when we get back, ok?"

"Ok! Goodnight Ritsuka!"

"Good night."

Ritsuka closed his phone and put it in his pant's pocket. He brushed his black hair out of his face, but it fell right back down again. He did it again. He was going to have to cut it in the morning. Suddenly, someone put their cold hand on his bare chest, making him shiver at the touch. Ritsuka looked up to see Youji staring right back down at him, smiling.

"Oooh, it's a girl. Some competition for Soubi, I see. Hey, don't give me that look! Ok, ok, if you have no feelings for her, can Natsuo and I have a shot at her?"

Youji fell back to sleep with a red nose and an imprint of a fist on his face and with Ritsuka sleeping on the floor with an extra blanket and pillow.

* * *

Such a chapter, I think. Can anyone guess who that mysterious peson was?

Oh, and just for your imformation, the numbers in the students' usernames indicates the date they were born (ex. Ritsuka was born on December 21, so I used the 21 in his username) and they also have the students' last names in them ( ex. Ritsuka Aoyagi).

Now, review! Or else Ritsuka might have to punch you in the face too!


	11. Chapter 11

You know, I have to say that in a way, I feel like I stole something in this chapter with a new person. I always had a vision of what this new character would look like, but after finishing up this chapter, I realized that this character had a sense of Near from Deathnote. I just love his hair. XD

**Chapter 11**

_Ring! Ring!_

Curled up in a little ball on his floor, Ritsuka's ears flicked from the noise of his cell phone ringing. Fumbling around in his sleep, he reached for his cell. Ritsuka looked at his little black phone's screen but couldn't make out who was calling him. It was too early in the morning to comprehend anything at all. He flipped his phone open and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Hello there, Loveless."

Ritsuka jumped to his feet, making the covers fall from his body. He was fully awake now. It was a girl's voice, he was sure of it, but the voice was being filtered by something, so he couldn't recognize who it was. His eyes were wide and his tail was wagging as he frantically looked all around the room. No doors were opened and the Zeroes were asleep on his bed.

"Who is this?" asked Ritsuka, pressing the phone close to his face. "How do you know my name?"

"It's Two, Loveless. Now, get yourself dressed. There's a matter someone wishes to discuss with you."

"No way in hell!" shouted Ritsuka. He looked at his bed to see if he had woken the boys, but they were still sleeping.

"You don't want to?"

"No! Why would I?!"

There was silence on the other end. Ritsuka heard shuffling, then a new voice came on. A boy's.

"This is Roku-sensei, head of the Dark Sun Academy. Loveless, I do believe that you have an appointment with me to enroll in our school. You've been delaying our little meeting for far too long, and students who come in to see me late get punished. Once again, I will send out One and Two to get you. Only this time, I will be coming with them. We will meet at your neighborhood café at noon. You know the one. Do not bring anyone with you. We want to handle this as _peacefully _as we can. And please don't try to wiggle yourself out of this one. We can easily track down your pink haired friend's house with the IP address she was using on that forum last night."

The line suddenly went dead. Ritsuka slammed his phone shut. This woke up the two other boys, who were cuddled up on his bed. Youji yawned and stretched his arms, wrapping his long fingers around the best post.

"Who was that on the phone, Ritsuka?" he asked him. "That chick again?"

He ducked as a pillow was chucked at his face. Natsuo, who was kneeling on the bed, couldn't help but wonder what was going through Ritsuka's head as he began pacing back and forth in his room. He stopped by the sliding glass door, staring out at the sun. He pushed it open and walked out to the very edge of the small balcony that he had.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, except for the strange, sweet smell streaming into Ritsuka's nostrils from the cold, chilling wind. The scent was most likely coming from his little pot of flowers he had on the balcony. Soubi had given them to him right before the winter and said to grow them when the season started to change. Spring was coming, so he had left them out there, and they had started to grow. Yet the smell was bothering him. Ritsuka rubbed his nose vigorously. After a moment, he forgot about the whole thing and peered down at the street.

He didn't see anyone out on the streets. No, who would be out on the streets at this time in the morning? Kids were sleeping in, they were off, and most of the adults were working. No one was outside the house. Yet this Roku-sensei found out where he lived and his cell phone number…

"Do you think Soubi's up right now?" asked Ritsuka, calling out into the room. He tugged on the black strap attached to his cell phone and put it around his neck.

"He should be," answered Natsuo. "Why, what's up?"

"That was the head of Dark Sun Academy."

Natsuo let go of Youji and got off the bed. Youji made a grab for him, but missed and fell on the floor. Ritsuka was rubbing his temples when Natsuo took his phone and flipped it open, searching for Soubi's number in the practically empty contact list. When he did, he pressed the green button and the phone dialed the number. Natsuo held it up to Rituska's ear, but he pushed the phone away. He took the strap off of his neck, leaving Natsuo in full possession of the phone.

"Don't you want to talk to him?" asked Natsuo, giving him a confused look.

"I've got a headache right now, you talk to him." replied Ritsuka, as he walked back into his room.

"But Ritsuka, I don't know what to say!" yelled Natsuo, but Ritsuka didn't hear him. He was leaning up against his wall. Natsuo scratched his head and started speaking into the phone. "Soubi, it's Natsuo. Ritsuka has something to say to you."

Just then, Ritsuka slid the door shut and locked it, leaving Natsuo out in the cold. In protest of this, Youji sprang up from the floor and grabbed Ritsuka.

"Hey, what was that for?!" he yelled, shaking him. "Why did you do that?!"

He stopped shaking him when he noticed Ritsuka's eyes. They were glazed. Youji let go of him and the dizzy boy dragged his feet out of the room, slamming his body into the walls. Youji watched him as he tripped over himself walking into the bathroom. Ritsuka grabbed the edge of the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. His face was completely white and it looked like he was sweating. Suddenly, he couldn't feel himself anymore, nor could he feel himself hitting the cold, hard floor as his legs lost the strength to hold his own body up.

* * *

It seemed like only seconds later that the poor cat boy saw his beloved servant. Ritsuka found himself back in his room, lying in Soubi's lap on the floor. Soubi was looking down at him with his blonde hair pushed back behind his ears, and with a sense of calmness. He was wearing a purple sweater that felt so good to Ritsuka that he nuzzled his face into it. He heard Natsuo and Youji's voices in the background, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. It was like listening to white noise, only he could hear human voices.

Slowly, everything became clearer and he finally realized that the two of them were fighting over who would have the last chocolate chip cookie that Ritsuka had stashed in his drawers. He tried to move, but couldn't. Scared, he opened his eyes and looked up at Soubi.

"Soubi, I can't move my arms!" he cried. "I'm paralyzed!"

"It'll be alright, Ritsuka." whispered Soubi, leaning in close to Ritsuka's face to kiss him on the forehead. "Your body's just numb. Katsu and Rai are heating up some towels for you."

"Katsu's better now?" asked Ritsuka.

"As soon as she heard that you had passed out, she miraculously healed." said Soubi, smiling.

Ritsuka's ears twitched. The little brat was playing them.

He turned his head just in time to get a mouthful of hot towel. He shook it off him to see Katsu and Rai holding at least three more of the white towels from the bathroom.

"Sleepy head's awake now, I see." said Katsu. She looked behind Soubi. "You two, be quiet! Ritsuka's up!"

"Ritsuka's up?!"

Ritsuka was pummeled by Youji and Natsuo's bodies as they landed right on him. And the annoying part was that when Youji started kissing him, Ritsuka couldn't hit him. Soon they got off him and gave him his much needed breathing space. Rai and Katsu put the towels on his body and started rubbing him with them.

"What happened to me?" asked Ritsuka.

"You were drugged," explained Rai as he rubbed Ritsuka's hands. "When the three of us arrived here, I deducted that you were drugged, after seeing your eyes of course. And the only way we could tell if your body went numb was to let Youji here do a little river dance on your chest. I hope you don't mind. Did you feel weird before you passed out?"

Ritsuka thought as hard as he could, but everything was coming back to him in bits and pieces. But there was one thing that stood out for him.

"There was a smell."

"Ahh, that would be it. Dark Sun Academy must have put something in the air around your building. A failed attempt at kidnapping."

A tingly, burning sensation filled Ritsuka's body as his nerves came back to life and let him feel how hot the towels were. He screamed and kicked and threw the towels all around the room. Glaring at Lightless, he got to his feet and shook his head.

"Did those towels have to be _burning hot?_" he asked them.

"We didn't know how long it would take you to get the feeling back in your body," said Katsu, pulling off a very convincing innocent smile.

Soubi tugged on Ritsuka's pants. "Natsuo said you had something to tell me."

Ritsuka swung around, nodding his head. "Yeah. Roku-sensei of the Dark Sun Academy wants to meet up with me at this café around twelve to discuss some things. He somehow got a hold of my cell number."

Everyone circled around little Ritsuka, all thinking the same thing. Only it took one brave person to burst out with it minutes later.

"He probably wants to take you," said Katsu. She stomped her feet. "But we can't let him do that! You can't go!"

"I have to go!" shouted Ritsuka, turning around to glare at her. "If I don't, they'll hurt Yuiko!"

Katsu's ears drooped and she put her index finger up to her lip. "Yuiko? Who's she?"

"They're going to take Yuiko if you don't go?" asked Soubi. Ritsuka nodded at him. He stood up and grabbed Ritsuka's hands. "I will come with you."

"No, Roku-sensei doesn't want anyone to come with me."

Youji smiled a wicked smile. "But he doesn't have to know that someone's there."

* * *

Dressed in his usual blue sweatshirt with the white patterns at the bottom, Ritsuka was sitting down inside the café, drinking a cup of green tea. No one had come to join him just yet. He put his elbow down on the table, placing his head in his palm, looking around. Youji, Natsuo, Soubi, Katsu, and Rai, were all dressed in black, trying to blend in with the surroundings. Katsu was hiding behind a potted tree. Rai was leaning up against a wall, reading the newspaper. Soubi was sitting down at a nearby table, sketching something. And Youji and Natsuo were sitting at a table across the room from him, playing a game of Hang Man with ketchup packets.

The plan was for everyone to watch out for Ritsuka while he spoke with the sensei and Peaceful. Everyone except Ritsuka was wearing a headset, so they could communicate with each other and listen to the conversation with the microphone Ritsuka had on. He looked over at the tree Katsu was badly hidden behind. He patted his sweatshirt's pocket and saw her jump in the air. He knew that an insane amount of static was unpleasant, but it was revenge for the towels earlier on.

"Loveless, good afternoon."

Ritsuka noticed that someone from across his table had addressed him and turned to look at One, Two, and a boy not older than himself standing right there. He had curly white hair and was wearing a black overcoat with white feathers around the collar. He had on glasses, which let his stunning golden eyes look Ritsuka straight in the face without even blinking. He took off his coat, put it on the back of his chait and sat down, revealing a white long sleeved shirt with purple, butterfly shaped buttons holding his shirt together. The boy held out his hand.

"I am Roku-sensei."

* * *

The gang's trying to be all FBI like. XD I can strangely see them doing that too!

Now, review!


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry that this chapter was so short. I really had no idea for this chapter. Quite frankly, I just wanted it to be just talk between Ritsuka and Roku-sensei. I guess it kinda ended up like that, but I really had nothing to go on...

**Chapter 12**

Slowly, Ritsuka grabbed the boy's hand and shook it quickly, then brought his hand back to his body so that he could think about what he would do next. Roku-sensei was just sitting there, calm as ever, just staring at him. Ritsuka shot a glance at Soubi, who was still sketching at his own table. Roku-sensei leaned forward and kissed the tip of Ritsuka's nose. He smiled as Ritsuka yelped and rubbed his nose furiously, scooting his chair back, away from the table.

"Not so good when it comes to surprises, I see," said Roku-sensei, as he full sat back down on his chair. "I'll keep a little note about that."

"What was that for?!" asked Ritsuka, who had his hands gripped to the edge of his chair now.

"Just your first, little quiz," said Roku-sensei. "I just wanted to see what would happen if a teacher came on to you like that. Not as good as Soubi. Soubi didn't re-act to it at all when it happened."

Ritsuka became puzzled. Roku-sensei brushed back some curly white hair that was around his ears to show his pair of butterfly studs, glittering in the light of the café.

"Ritsu-sensei is my idol," he explained. "He's the reason why I wanted to start up a school. The obsession with butterflies came in after I started making my first students."

Soubi shifted his chair closer to Ritsuka's table just a bit. Rai ruffled his newspaper and turned the page, keeping his eyes slightly above the paper to look at the four of them. Katsu had her head poked out from behind the tree. Youji and Natsuo didn't seem to be interested in what they were hearing through their earpieces, so they decided to switch the game from Hang Man to Simon Says.

"How can you hold a school?" asked Ritsuka, moving his chair closer to his table. "You're barely my age. Don't your parents worry about you if you're not home?"

Roku-sensei slammed his hand into his chest and threw back his head with a sigh. "Oh, the woeful tale of my life!"

One and Two chuckled at their teacher. Roku-sensei jumped out of his seat and did a graceful, slow dance by himself, pretending to cry as he did. Ritsuka thought he was going to puke with this drama queen act. When he was finished, Roku-sensei sat back down in his seat and folded his arms on the table.

"I used to live in an orphanage," he explained. "When I was just about eight, the staff there explained to me that both of my parents died in a car crash when I was little, and had no one in their family to take care of me. So the police brought me there." He sighed again and shielded his eyes. "Growing up there, I felt sorry for some of the other kids. I was little when my parents died, I couldn't remember how they looked or what they sounded like. But some of those kids did, and I would hear them crying in the middle of the night for their mommies and daddies that would never come back to them." Roku-sensei put his hands down and Ritsuka pushed his back up against his chair when he saw his wide eyes and his big smile. "But then, Ritsu-sensei came one day, months ago, and adopted one of the kids! He said that they had been chosen to attend a school that he was running! I was so jealous of the girl who had been chosen, _very jealous_, so when he took her, I _followed him_, and I saw the school that he ran and what he was doing there! I wanted to be just like him, so I built a machine that generate peoples' true names and it would give them the ability to perform spell battles! I tested it out on a young couple and it made them forget who they were and what they were doing, and I named them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. I made them adopt me and then I made more Peaceful and I took care of _Mom and Dad!_"

Roku-sensei laughed wildly at this story, as if he had told the best joke in the world. Soubi threw down his sketch and rubbed his eyes. Everyone in the café was looking at them. Rituska knew of this, with his tail quivering and his ears drooped. One and Two leaned in on their insane teacher and whispered things into his ears. After they were done, Roku-sensei calmed himself down and nodded, covering his mouth to suppress anymore giggles.

"That was an, umm…interesting story," said Ritsuka, looking around at all of the eyes that were on them.

"I knew you would like it," said Roku-sensei, still smiling from his laughing incident. "Most of my students do. Just that, sometimes I get out of hand when I tell my story."

"He's a crazy old guy," said Two.

Roku-sensei shot her a glare. "Don't talk about your teacher like that. And you're older than me, so what does that make you?"

Two shrugged. Nodding, Roku-sensei coughed into his arm and looked back at Ritsuka.

"So, would you be interested in enrolling into our school?" he asked him. "I already have a Fighter unit for you. You know him."

"Who is it?" asked Ritsuka.

Now his heart was pounding. It was someone that he knew. A male. Who had he taken in?

_Yayoi?, _thought Ritsuka. _No, as far as I know, he only knows about Yuiko. Maybe it's someone he's going to take in. Rai? One of the Zeroes? Soubi?_

"Me."

Ritsuka was taken back in surprise. "You?"

Roku-sensei nodded. "Why do you think all of my students are named Peaceful? I made the machine generate their names after my true name. While I was at Ritsu-sensei's school, I grabbed some books on spell battles and found everything out about myself. I've trained myself to become a Fighter and I've been searching for the perfect Sacrifice." Roku-sensei smiled and pointed at Ritsuka. "And that would be you. Your name's be floating around recently as a good Sacrifice, and you happen to be Seimei's younger brother, so there's some talent running through your blood." Roku-sensei held out his hand again, like he did when they had first started talking. "What do you say, Loveless? Would you change your name for me?"

It was like he was proposing to him! At that, Soubi sprang out of his seat and grabbed Roku-sensei by the shirt. The others jumped in too, but Two and One pushed them all back and the four of them hit the wall.

"Ritsuka, I thought I told you not to bring anyone with you," said Roku-sensei. "Oh well. We still need to build on to some student-teacher trust."

Soubi held his face close to Roku-sensei's. "You're not taking Ritsuka away from me."

"I'm afraid I am, Soubi," he said. "Whether he likes it or not."

He snapped his fingers. Roku-sensei shot out from Soubi's grasp and was floating in the air. Little strings of orange light were surrounding him. One and Two flew up into the air and stood next to him.

"_Loveless is coming with us_."

Ritsuka screamed as a string of orange light wrapped itself around his waist and dragged him up into the air. Roku-sensei grabbed him and held him in his arms, bridal style. In but a flash of white light, the four of them disappeared, leaving Soubi and the others motionless with fear.

"Ritsuka is gone," whispered Katsu, her voice barely able to hear. "We failed Ritsu-sensei. We couldn't stop him."

She started to cry and Rai took her into his arms and held her there, with his head on top of her's. Natsuo was silent, sitting down on the ground, while Youji was having a tantrum, throwing ketchup packs on to the ground. But Soubi was the worst. His legs were shaking and his skin had turned chalk white. The man fell to his knees and sobbed on the floor.

* * *

Poor Soubi. D: Let's all cry for Soubi.

Leave reviews for Soubi's sadness. It'll make him happy.


	13. Chapter 13

Terribly sorry for the delay, guys. I was busy taking care of life and stuff. But now it's summer vacation, so I'm now able to concentrate on my work for the moment (unless I get a summer job). So this story's pretty much coming to a close. This is the second-to-last chapter. I think you'll be surprised at what's going to happen at the end of this chapter...

**Chapter 13**

The world was a mix of swirling colors. Nothing seemed real. Not even the bright light that was shining down on to his own face. Ritsuka tried to lift his hand so that he could shield the light from reaching his eyes, but he couldn't move it. His arms were strapped down. And so were his legs when he tried to move them. Little Ritsuka was bounded to a metallic table, black leather straps around his arms and legs. The entire ceiling was lit up with lights.

The boy lifted up his head so he could try and see where he was. It was a computer lab. There was a large screen in front of him with an equally large keyboard with different color buttons. There was nothing else in the room. Ritsuka tried nipping free by leaning his head over to the strap holding back his right arm, but couldn't make it. He banged his head on to the table and moaned.

"I see you're up, my little prince!"

A white glove covered Ritsuka's eyes. He even tried biting the long fingers inside it, but even that he couldn't reach as it pulled away, showing a face. Roku-sensei was smiling down at him. Ritsuka couldn't stand looking at him and turned his face, looking at him in the corner of his eye. With his white hair and completely white clothes, the light seemed to glow around him. He pushed his glasses up his nose a bit.

"Did my little prince enjoy his little nap?" asked Roku-sensei.

"Don't call me your _little prince_," growled Ritsuka.

"Oh, I see," said Roku-sensei, touching Ritsuka's cheek with his hand. "Well, I can't call you Loveless either, since that will no longer be your name in a few minutes…May I call you Rit-chan?"

Ritsuka's body shot up halfway towards him. "NO YOU MAY NOT!"

Roku-sensei cringed in fright and took a few steps back. "Temper, temper. I don't think I'd be able to tolerate that coming from a student and my soon to be Sacrifice. I don't think I'd listen well to someone who will do nothing but get angry at me all day." He smirked and turned around to head over to the computer. "I'm not the masochistic type, I'm sorry."

"I wouldn't hurt you," growled Ritsuka, lowering himself. "I don't believe in hurting others."

"Then may I ask why you tried to bite me a minute ago?"

"I'm hungry. I can't help it."

Roku-sensei nodded as he stood facing the big screen. He started pressing buttons. Ritsuka watched as many windows came up, but they were being covered by other windows as soon as he saw them. Finally, Roku-sensei seemed to have found the file that he was looking for and made a simple click. The lights dimed just a bit, which was making Ritsuka's heart rate increase. He didn't know what was going on. A simple gray screen came up, with two simple buttons as well: 'Start' and 'Cancel'.

"Ritsuka, do you know why I was calling you a prince?" asked Roku-sensei, turning to look at him again.

Ritsuka shook his head. Roku-sensei looked at the computer again and pulled up a folder that seemed to have come out of no where. He clicked on the file that was there and a video stream of what looked to be a cafeteria came up. There, sitting by dozens of tables, were children and teenagers, all eating and reading books.

"Ritsuka, do you know what you're looking at?" asked Roku-sensei.

"A bunch of kids inside a school?" responded Ritsuka.

Roku-sensei clapped. "Yes, that is correct, and they all belong to me. That is the cafeteria and there are all my students. The school is located underground, so I'd be able to hold all of the Peaceful here and they wouldn't be able to escape. Not like they would. They're under my control." He walked over to Ritsuka's side and started petting his head. "And they will soon be our army, my little prince. We will be two princes, like brothers, controlling this army of ours and expanding our empire, starting with the Seven Voices Academy."

"I told you not to call me a prince!" yelled Ritsuka. He spat at Roku-sensei's arm, sending him into a wail with his germ infectation. "And I'm not going to become just like those kids!"

Roku-sensei was running around in circles, still screaming. He stopped and tried to calm himself down, as he pulled out a small bottle of disinfectant. After applying it on his arm and rubbing it in, he shook his head, sending his white curls into the air.

"That was disgusting!" he shrieked. Ritsuka smiled. "And it's not like you have a choice! You're changing your name whether you like it or not!"

Roku-sensei clicked on the video stream and canceled it out. He brought up the previous gray screen. He moved the mouse over to the start button and clicked on it. There was a rumbling noise and Ritsuka saw that the lights were moving. The ceiling was dividing apart as a large laser started to come down. He squirmed, trying to get free, with his tail lying helplessly over the table's edge. The laser continued to come down until it was a few feet above his body. A green light shot out from the laser. It landed on Ritsuka's head and slowly made its way down his body.

"The process has now begun!" Roku-sensei shouted out in excitement. "My machine is scanning you, setting up your statistics and basically everything about your body onto my computer as I speak!"

"You better stop this!" cried Ritsuka, still trying to get loose. "I don't want this!"

"You can't stop it now, Ritsuka," said Roku-sensei, walking up to him. "Once it's begun, it won't stop. After its done scanning, it will then erase your memory, and afterwards change your name." He smiled down at him. "And don't think if you close your eyes that it won't work. It's not aimed at your eyes. As soon as the laser hits your body, your memories are gone." He petted his head again. "Maybe if you're a good little prince, I won't have to kill you off like I had intended to in the end. I might just keep you as my partner." He tugged at one of his ears. "You might have to lose these too."

"I'd rather you not touch his ears at all."

Roku-sensei looked behind Ritsuka and yelped. He backed away shaking in fear. The boy couldn't help but smile. Soubi was with him.

"How did you get in here?!" yelled Roku-sensei. "I locked the door with my security password! Only the students and I know how to get in here!"

"Thing One and Thing Two helped us out there."

"Yeah, and then we beat them up and left them in a ditch somewhere."

Ritsuka couldn't help but chuckle. Youji and Natsuo were there too.

"Those two teleported themselves right outside the café. They did it wrong and didn't follow you. But something tells me that you didn't care."

"SO GIVE US BACK OUR RITSUKA!"

Rai and Katsu now. It was quite the crowd that Ritsuka attracted. Suddenly, the laser stopped generating the green string of light. It was now creating a loud hum. Ritsuka saw the two Zeros jump over the table. They landed on top of Roku-sensei's body and started to assault the poor boy. Katsu and Rai ran up to Ritsuka's sides and both flipped out switch blades. They started to cut away at the leather until the boy was free. Ritsuka sat up just as Soubi wrapped his arms around him from behind. He rested his head on the boy's shoulder and stuffed his face into his cheek. He felt something wet hit his face.

"I missed you, Ritsuka," whispered Soubi. He kissed his cheek. "I didn't know if we were going to make it in time."

Ritsuka hugged Soubi back. "Don't worry, Soubi. Nothing bad happened to me."

"This is insane, let me go! OUCH!"

Soubi let go of Ritsuka and directed his gaze to the mass of bodies on the ground. "Youji, Natsuo, leave the sensei alone."

The boys instantly obeyed the order. They both stood up, covered with tiny spots of blood. Roku-sensei was lying on the floor and was now struggling to get himself up. Once he even got himself into a sitting position, Ritsuka saw that his face was all cut up and blood was all over his white clothes. Soubi walked over to him and knelt down in front of him. He flicked him in the head. Roku-sensei fell to the floor again, in pain.

"See? He's nothing but a weakling." said Soubi. "He's not worth the fight."

"I am too worth the fight!" yelled Roku-sensei, as he got to his feet.

But no one was listening to him. Natsuo and Youji were heading over to the door that was behind the table and opened it, showing a hallway filled with scattered, unconscious bodies. They both walked out, leaving the others inside. Rai and Katsu were helping Ritsuka off the table, and Soubi came up to him and put his arm around his waist. They were walking over to the door too. The sensei's anger was rising, his voice rumbling through his gritted teeth, just like the machine that was getting louder by the second.

"You can't do this to me!"

Soubi turned his head around and did something very childish. He stuck out his tongue. Roku-sensei roared and shoved his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a handgun, pointing it at Soubi.

"You can't take Ritsuka away from me!"

A shot was heard. Soubi grabbed Ritsuka and pulled him closer to his chest so that he wouldn't get hurt. But instead, he did anyway. Deep down inside him, Ritsuka was screaming for the man that was holding him now, because in reality, he could say nothing as he witnessed the amount of blood that was coming through Soubi's shirt. And the blood was quickly spreading. Soubi fell to his knees, bringing Ritsuka down with him. He said nothing. His eyes were shut tight.

Shaking him, Ritsuka was slowly losing hope as the seconds slipped by. Soubi wasn't responding to anything. He wouldn't believe it.

_It's not true! _, thought Ritsuka. _It just can't be happening! Soubi's not…He can't be…_

"Soubi!" cried Katsu, as she ran towards the two of them. Rai followed.

"No one touches my Ritsuka!" yelled Roku-sensei.

He fired another shot. Rai was mumbling something underneath his breath and suddenly a purple barrier sprang up from the ground and shielded them from the bullet. It ricocheted and instead hit the machine. As the barrier went down, the machine started making funny noises and sparks burst out from it. Roku-sensei went down in tears.

"My machine!" he cried. "You damaged my machine!"

Suddenly, white lights were shooting out from the laser in every direction. One light hit Roku-sensei and he flew into the wall, head first, and remained silent. Katsu and Rai tried to pry Ritsuka off of Soubi's body, but Ritsuka wouldn't let go. There was no way in the world that he would let go of someone like Soubi.

"Ritsuka, come on!" yelled Katsu. "Something's up with the machine, we have to get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving Soubi!" Ristuka shouted back. "I'm not leaving his side!"

And then, just as soon as he said that, he saw nothing but a white light. And then it was all over.

* * *

So that's it. It's on to the final chapter now (which will be up real soon since I've had the last chapter pretty much planned out for a while now).

If chapter 14 is up by the time you're reading this bit, wait a little while until you go on ahead. Really take in the ending to this chapter. Once you think you've built up enough dramatic suspense, you may go ahead and go on.

And now since I've said that, I have one last thing to say.

Roku-sensei's quite the flirtatious bastard.


	14. Chapter 14

The very last chapter. Take your time and read this now. I now it's all too much for you to take in because you're probably crying your eyes out about who knows what...but you'll have a very good reason once you read this...

**Chapter 14**

December 20th

Dear Diary,

Hello there. My name is Ritsuka. Since this is the first time I've ever written in a diary, I really don't know where to start. My psychiatrist says that it's a good idea to put down your thoughts and feelings on paper so that you let everything out. I think doing something like that is completely foolish, but I'm doing it anyway, as a test. And since I'm doing this, I made sure to buy a diary that came with a lock and key so that no one will be able to read it.

I'm living in a foster home and I'm being brought up by Mr. and Mrs. Haiyashi. They're both pretty old, but they're really nice. They don't have any other kids of their own. Along with me, they also adopted two other kids about my age named Katsu and Rai. Katsu is a bit too wild for me and she likes to get in my way with things. Rai's just there and likes to be quiet, but he usually butts in when things get real bad when it comes to me and Katsu and breaks it up. So I guess they're both alright.

The three of us were being taken care of by an orphanage. I don't know why I was there. Katsu and Rai can't remember how they even got there. But the people there told us that we were found in some sort of an underground computer lab, inside a building. Apparently, someone above ground called the police because a small group of people were tearing up the road to get down there. Along with me and the other two, there was another boy and a man inside the computer lab. The other boy had a gun in his possession, so he wasn't brought to our orphanage. And no one's said anything about the man except that he was shot and was brought to a hospital. There were lots of other kids there too, but the police couldn't bring them to an orphanage because they had weird powers or something like that. But that's impossible. Nothing like that could happen. So they were brought in for testing.

I can't remember anything at all. The psychiatrist says that my amnesia was brought on from some sort of a shock. But I don't think so. Then again, I can't exactly think much since I have nothing to go on with. Mr. and Mrs. Haiyashi won't tell me much about what the orphanage found out about me. Then again, they could have forgotten themselves. They're very nice people, but with being so old, I'm surprised that they remember to feed the dog every morning. The orphanage used my finger prints and looked me up in some sort of database and found out that my full name was Ritsuka Aoyagi. They did that on the first day that I was there. That's how I found out my name. But somehow, Rai and Katsu remembered their names and they weren't in the database. It was really weird.

I have real parents though. That's another thing I found out. I have a mother and a father. I used to have an older brother named Seimei, but he was murdered in a fire a while back. I guess you can say I miss him. I can't remember him at all, but since he was my brother, I have to feel bad. The people at the orphanage wouldn't let me go back to my parents because they found out that my mother was a hysteric and was afraid to put me back into custody with her. It makes sense. She could hurt me. She might have already, because I have all these cuts and bruises all over my body. They're going away though, so that's ok. And they've told me that I used to see a different psychiatrist back then, but I'm seeing a new one now. They think that if I went back to my old one, my mother might try to get me back. Funny that they've never said anything about my father. I've also been told that I went to see that old psychiatrist for basically the same reason I see my current one. It's because I've lost my memories. I wonder why I can't remember anything about my past. Whatever it is that I'm supposed to know about myself, I have to have it told to me.

My foster parents have told me that tomorrow is my birthday. I'll be thirteen. I guess we'll be having a little party here at the house. No friends will be invited. I have none in school. The only people that I talk to in school are Rai and Katsu, and that's only because they were put in my class. Mr. and Mrs. Haiyashi don't live in the same city that I used to live in, so I go to a different school now.

Well, dinner seems to be done. I really don't know how to end a diary entry. So I guess that I'll say good-bye then. Good-bye, diary. I hope to write in you again sometime soon.

Ritsuka

* * *

And that's it. The very last chapter of the Dark Sun Academy story. How did you guys like the ending? Did it shock you? Were you expecting it at all?

I'm considering making a sequal. I have a little idea brewing up in my mind. I don't know. We'll have to see.

So, to all my followers with this story, I say farewell and wait patiently for the next story. But while you wait, read up on any other fanfics that I may be working on. I'm sure you'll enjoy them as well!


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